French retail giant Carrefour has joined forces with Bee Friendly, an association committed to the protection of pollinating insects in agriculture.
The collaboration between Carrefour and Bee Friendly will see the implementation of farming practices that focus on the protection of pollinators within its Quality Lines (QL), particularly in arboriculture.
Carrefour Quality Lines, launched in 1992, seek to build trust-based partnerships with farms to offer healthy and quality products that are accessible to all and grown using eco-friendly practices.
Currently, there are 130 such lines, supporting 16,000 producers throughout France every year.
Partnership With Bee Friendly
The three-year partnership seeks to support Carrefour's partner producers to implement a form of agriculture that is more respectful of biodiversity, limits the use of synthetic chemical pesticides, and focuses on better protection of wild pollinators.
Carrefour will rely on Bee Friendly's expertise to raise awareness among internal stakeholders, conduct an accurate analysis of producers' current practices and train producers in the challenges of protecting wild pollinators.
Bee Friendly will also help Carrefour in identifying and implementing best practices in the apple and peach/nectarine sectors based on technical, economic and commercial constraints.
Carrefour aims to include all its Quality Line products of plant origin (fruit, vegetables, cereals) to adopt an 'agroecology' approach by 2025.
This will be achieved by the implementation of practices that reduce the use of synthetic chemical pesticides, improve soil quality and optimise the use of water.
Through its partnership with Bee Friendly, 75% of plant origin FQC (Filière Qualité Carrefour) products will be part of the 'agroecology' approach.
This initiative by the retailer will contribute to its target to achieve €8 billion in sales of sustainable products by 2026.
