‘Partnerships with overseas retailers critical in helping fishing industry’
Castletownbere Fishermen’s Co-op is three years into its supply arrangement with Mercadona. It has recently signed a contract to supply 2,000 tonnes of whitefish annually to the Spanish supermarket chain, a €10m deal which directly supports 35 of its 80 local processing plant jobs.
The Mercadona contract offers stability to the 280 workers on board the West Cork co-op’s own fleet of 40 boats, plus huge numbers of others in indirect local employment. That stability is critical to both Mercadona and the local Castletownbere community.
“The days of getting €5 for a fish today and holding out for €10 tomorrow are gone,” said Castletownbere Fishermen’s Co-op manager John Nolan. “More and more, the industry will be about stability, and about economies of scale.
“Mercadona has 1,500 shops and they want a contract that guarantees them supply for every one of those shops. They employ 76,000 people full-time and they own a 28% share of the Spanish market.
“Mercadona also has a vision that our co-op members can relate to. They want to work with the supplier at all times. Their policy is open. I attend their AGM every year in Spain.”
The Castletownbere co-op is working with the supermarket chain’s Caspadona project, at the centre of which is the customer. Mercadona’s customers want the minimum of links between them and the fresh product.
The whitefish is packed into 5kg boxes at a fixed price, and sent directly to Spain. Mercadona is given full details on the fisherman’s share of the price, and full access to the co-op’s annual accounts.
That transparent “open book” policy works both ways. As the price is fixed, there are no in-store promotions, which both partners agree invariably undermine the supplier, in this case the fisherman.
Castletownbere delivers a guaranteed supply of megrims, white sole, witches and monkfish. The co-op is conducting trials with hake.
With recent international fishing agreements having opened up EU markets to more imports from Canada and elsewhere, West Cork suppliers will become increasingly glad of this stability.
The co-op received significant support from BIM in developing its relationship with Mercadona. Castletownbere has been certified with BIM’s Responsibly Sourced Standard, and for food safety with the British Retail Consortium.
A Mercadona delegation recently visited the Castletownbere facilities to unveil the new contract to local partners.
Ismael Folgado of Mercadona said: “Collaborations are strategically essential nowadays. Castletownbere Fishermen’s Co-op has demonstrated an on-going improvement in all they do and as a result they have become our main supplier of monkfish and megrim.
“For us, it is important to see the primary sector moving on, achieving certifications in food safety, investing in its facilities, in traceability systems etc. We have a good working relationship with Castletownbere Co-op and through this agreement we can continue to deliver a high quality product at the best price to our customers.”
