M. Gilles BLANCHARD, CANAVESE GROUP, France : Quality and rigor for the benefit of fruit and veg.

M. Gilles BLANCHARD, CANAVESE GROUP, France : « Quality and rigor for the benefit of fruit and vegetables » The Canavese Frères Company was established in 1976 with a target, to improve marketing and the quality of service. Today, the modest familial Company of the beginnings knows a surprising growth. Interview with Gilles Blanchard, Assistant Sales Manager. FRUCTIDOR : M. Blanchard, could you briefly present us your activity ? G. Blanchard : CANAVESE S.A is an European group that gathers all the jobs of the Fruit and Vegetables Channel. Production : In Ivory Coast, a surface area of 1 000 hectares including 500 in production itself, which gives, added to associated production, a volume of 40 000 tons of bananas. In the South of France, a strong involvement in the producer organisation ‘Les Maraîchers du Midi’ (a production of 10 000 tons). Import : We ‘re having close relationships with strong brands from the best origins world-wide : Carmel, Outspan, Mono Azul, Cape, etc. … Distribution : 5 platforms located in the south-east of France distribute each year 120 000 tons of top quality products. We ship to France as a whole and also to Europe. Export : Our production in France and Ivory Coast as well as our import brands allow us to export to the whole Europe. FRUCTIDOR : What about Canavese in few figures ? G. Blanchard : The Canavese group in few figures represents : - Turnover : Euro 105 million - Growth : 5 % - Tonnage : 200 000 tons, all activities mixed - Staff : 400 employees on the French territory 900 employees in Ivory Coast FRUCTIDOR : What are your import markets and on which criteria do you select your suppliers ? G. Blanchard : We mainly import from the Middle-East (Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Cyprus, etc.), from the Maghreb countries (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, etc.), from Africa ( South Africa, Ivory Coast, etc.) and from America (USA, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, etc.). The quality of products is the first criteria interfering in the selection of suppliers ; the follow-up, the persistence and seriousness that they show allow us to develop long-term relationships. FRUCTIDOR : What is your buying price policy ? G. Blanchard : We guarantee our suppliers the best price to producers, we valorise the quality products and we encourage our partners, by repaid results, to remain the leaders. FRUCTIDOR : What are your key products and under which brands do you market them ? G. Blanchard

: Our key products are bananas, tomatoes, salads and citrus fruit. We market them under the Primeur’ Saveur brand for the French products and the Kini brand for imported products. We care about all of our products, we market more than 500 references every day. FRUCTIDOR : What are the logistic capacities of a group such as yours ? G. Blanchard : The Canavese Group has more than 100 vehicles mobilised 24 hours a day to supply our customers in time. The group’s five platforms ensure to products the best environment (controlled temperature) in warehouses, during orders preparation and during shipment. FRUCTIDOR : What are your export markets and who are your customers ? G. Blanchard : Our main export markets are located in Europe, but we also forward outside the European Union, to Eastern Countries, Middle East, Africa, etc. Thanks to our position on the market, our customers are the reflect of the European fruit and vegetables panel, it means we serve large-scale distributors, as well as wholesalers, catering units and specialised trading representatives. FRUCTIDOR : What are your relationships with competitors ? G. Blanchard : Sometimes our competitors are our customers and sometimes, we are our competitors’ customers. Crossed complementarities give us the opportunity to improve our service. FRUCTIDOR : What would you say about the fruit and vegetables channel in Europe today ? According to you, what progress are still to make ? G. Blanchard : Recent world-wide food crisis highlight the imperious need of the fruit and vegetable sector to master all the channel’s levels, first with production. Operators who didn’t make the choice of quality will regret it as only the ones who made the good choices (quality of products, of infrastructures and above all, quality of employees) will resist. We can’t ignore health requirements which are today the consumers’ first matter of concern. We have the chance that our products are now recognised by scientists as vehicles for health : let us grab it and enjoy the fruit and vegetables good days that are to come ! FRUCTIDOR : What are the group’s next targets for the years to come ? G. Blanchard : Stronger involvement in all the channel’s levels in order to cover our customers’ needs and the production’s demands. Canavese aims to become one of the largest fruit and vegetable distribution group in Europe.