If you are a supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables and you are planning to expand to the Polish fruit and vegetables retail market – you are in the right place. In this article I will give you 5 questions to ask yourself before sending an offer to a Polish retailer.
Entering the Polish retail market
By entering the retail market I mean starting direct cooperation with retailers in Poland. This is something very different than working with wholesalers. On one hand you have full control of your product from the moment it leaves your warehouse to the moment it reaches the retailer’s warehouse and that is for sure something good. On the other hand, you have additional tasks to do and additional problems to solve. Therefore, before sending an offer to a Polish retailer it is good to ask yourself some questions. Why? Because it might turn out that at a given stage working with wholesalers is better for you than working with retailers.
- Is my product offer adjusted to the Polish retail market (also in terms of quality?)
- Am I financially prepared?
- Am I prepared in terms of logistics?
- Am I prepared in terms of time?
- Do I meet basic quality requirements as a supplier?
Question number 1 – Is my product offer adjusted to the Polish retail market (also in terms of quality?)
That is a good starting point when you are thinking of entering the Polish retail market. Polish retailers have their needs and problems. Some products are fully available from local production and some are only imported. The supply of some products is mixed and depends on the moment of the season. You need to make sure that you are offering products that are actively sought by buyers and that are available on the Polish market.
How to Make a Good Impression on a Polish retailer
This is something that was happening very often when I was working as a category manager. Many times I have received offers for products that for example are not imported in Poland or for products that are fully provided by the internal market. It’s not that sending such an offer completely ruins your chances of starting a cooperation (on condition that you have other products that are regularly ordered by the buyer). However, sending an offer tailored for a certain retailer is a perfect way to attract buyer’s attention and stand you out from the crowd of the same, copy paste offers. As far as I am concerned, suppliers should make a quick market analysis before sending an offer to a Polish retailer.
Be aware of the quality of your products
Also, you should be more or less aware of the quality specification of the product. From my experience, Polish retailers have moderate quality requirements. So you will not be able to sell low quality, almost 2nd class products here, but also no extra high premium quality will be required.
Question number 2 – Am I financially prepared?
Retail equals payment terms. Selling on credit is quite normal on the market and it does not apply only to working with retailer. However, when working with wholesalers, this is one of the agreement conditions that you can negotiate. Sometimes, when there is a huge demand for your product, you may even avoid payment terms and receive cash once the truck leaves your warehouse. Sometimes you may negotiate to shorten the payment term to couple of days.
Payment terms
When you working with retailers, typically you negotiate upon a payment term at the start of each cooperation. Using the word “negotiate” may be an exaggeration, as most retailers suggest strict payment terms and that are very difficult to shorten. Once payment term is established, it applies to each delivery made. As a result you need to be financially prepared to continue delivering products until the initial payments arrive.
Problems
On the other hand, this is actually the only negative aspect of payments on the Polish fruit and vegetable retail market. Retailers always pay, almost always on time, and once you deliver the product you usually don’t have to worry about vindication. A lot has improved over last years and payments are actually mentioned as one of the biggest advantages of working with retailers in Poland. The only thing you need to remember is to follow all formal aspects of invoicing because small mistakes in documents may result in late payments.
Question number 3 – Am I prepared in terms of logistics?
When you work with wholesalers, a lot of logistic issues is handled for you. You deliver the product, sometimes even in loose without any packaging and you don’t worry about anything else. However, from that point many things need to happen before product reaches the Polish retailer:
- product needs to be checked in terms of quality and sometimes sorted once again,
- product needs to be packed,
- product needs to be labeled,
- delivery documents need to be prepared,
- product needs to be delivered to retailer warehouse,
- if there is a quality claim you might need to sometime resort, repack and redeliver the product,
- sometimes the buyer is asking for postponing the delivery by a couple of hours or even a day or two – in that case storage needs to be organized,
- sometimes the product looses its quality and in that case it needs to be sold as 2nd class to traditional market or even to industry.
Logistic partner
So before entering the Polish retail market and before sending an offer to a Polish retailer I strongly advise you need to find a logistic partner here in Poland. There are several companies that offer a full range of services and may take care of your product here in Poland. If you are searching for one, feel free to contact me for help.
Question number 4 – Am I prepared in terms of time?
For a certain moment of my career as a buyer for a retailer I was responsible for starting cooperation with Polish local farmers. Cooperation with retailers was something completely new for the majority of them. Also, the majority of them had been delivering to wholesalers previously before they started cooperation with retailers. When we talked about main differences, one of the top issues they drew my attention to was time. Working with retailer is much more time consuming than working with wholesaler.
Methods of trading with Polish retailer
When you work with a wholesaler, you usually trade in an informal way, using whatsapp or phone calls. Very often the product is picked up by the receiver, you have much more flexibility in terms of time (for example you may postpone loading the truck by 2 hours and usually that is not a big deal) and if something is wrong you may try to work this out with wholesaler along the way (for example if part of the product is no ok, you may take it back or sell for lower price).
When you are entering the Polish retail market the situation changes. You need to be constantly available, using both email and phone. You need to keep an eye on the orders coming from the supplier’s system. All delivery documentation is also on you, you need to make sure the labels have correct delivery dates etc. In other words, lots of small, annoying duties appear in your life. And if you fail to fulfill your obligations, you will receive a quality claim and there is nothing you can do about that.
Question number 5 – Do I meet basic quality requirements as a supplier?
Last but not least – quality certificates. Almost all retailers carry out quality audits before commencing cooperation. Some take hours, some days, some months – it depends on a particular retailer. Anyway, before sending an offer to a Polish retailer you should be aware that quality certificates will be necessary. Therefore please check if your certificates are up to date. If you don’t have any, perhaps it would be wise to invest in the first one. Also please make sure that your facilities are meeting basic sanitary requirements because that may also be tested.
Final decision
If you answered all 5 questions positively then feel free to send an offer to the Polish retailer. If not, then I am here to help you. During 15 minute free consultation we can talk about your product offer, check you financial and time readiness, help to find you a logistic partner in Poland or do a short supplier audit to make sure you will meet retailer’s quality requirements.