Metro: China's wholesale champion

Distributor's selection as chow provider for University Games is latest sign of growing clout

During the ninth National University Games of China, which closed on Sept 18 in Tianjin, METRO Cash & Carry, an international leader in self-service wholesale, was chosen as the official food supplier.

"This marks a strong recognition of our efforts in food safety," said Uwe Hoelzer, president of METRO China.

The team from the METRO Tianjin Store was fully committed to supplying food products for the University Games. It supplied high-quality provisions, including meat, seafood, vegetables and dried food to more than 6,300 athletes, coaches and referees.

Throughout the Games, meals for all athletes and coaches were arranged according to unified recipes, standards and sourcing.

Strict standards were applied in food sourcing, detection of residual pesticides on vegetables, food processing, and inspection of the food preparation facilities.

Since the Games were held during the transition from summer to fall, abundant amounts of protein were included in the recipes, including meat, fish and shrimp, which required higher standards for a fresh food supply.

METRO has always been the industry's paragon for food safety management.

Three systems

Its traceability system, unbroken cold chain storage as well as its hazard analysis and critical control points, or HACCP, system were used to strictly control food quality from the aspects of supplier management, logistics and food safety assurance.

These systems have set a reliable control gateway for food safety along the entire supply chain - from field to market to table - ensuring food safety for the Games.

In order to provide safe and high-quality products to its professional customers, METRO introduced the Star Farm Traceability System in 2007, allowing the company to cooperate directly with local farmers to employ strict quality and safety standards for agricultural and sideline products.

The company has more than 2,200 agricultural and sideline products available for direct purchase, including vegetables, fruit, poultry, seafood, dried food, eggs and dairy products.

With this mode of cooperation, METRO assists the farmers and agricultural companies that form the core of its supply chain to control food quality at its source. Removing food that contains pesticide residues and hormones guaranteed that athletes avoided the impact of residues on the results of drug tests.

In addition to ensuring safety at the source, METRO secures the maximum freshness of food with its unbroken cold chain storage to guarantee product quality during delivery to wholesale centers.

It owns a "seamless" cold chain that covers national supply channels across China, the longest of which runs 2,600 km from Shanghai to Kunming.

Furthermore, with the HACCP system, METRO comprehensively checks overall processes in the distribution centers and temperature control during transportation. HACCP also enables the company to monitor the reception, storage and sale of goods in wholesale centers..

It allows the assessment, analysis and control of the risks at critical points during food production and processing, thereby minimizing food safety hazards throughout the whole process and ensuring the highest product quality.

With its sophisticated and strict food safety management system, METRO has successfully supported various major international and domestic events as the designated food supplier for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Expo Shanghai and the 16th Asian Games in 2010.

Company profile

METRO Cash & Carry is represented in 29 countries and has more than 700 self-service wholesale stores worldwide. With more than 120,000 employees worldwide, the wholesale company achieved sales of about 31 billion euros ($40 billion) in 2011.

METRO Cash & Carry is a sales division of METRO Group, one of the largest and most international retail companies. In 2011, the Group reached sales of around 67 billion euros (86.7 billion). The company has more than 280,000 employees and operates around 2,200 stores in 32 countries.

In 1996, METRO Cash & Carry opened its first wholesale store in Shanghai. The company was among the first to gain permission from the Chinese central government to set up chain operations in all major cities in China.

Over the last decade, the company has set up operations in 41 cities, with 58 outlets throughout China. With a headcount of around 8,500 employees, the wholesaler is serving more than 3 million professional customers across the country.

Contact the writer at zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn.