Parma / IT. (bg) Italy’s Barilla Group maintains a strong connection with the French agricultural sector: The brand Harrys supplies itself exclusively with 100 percent French wheat. Today, it is the 3rd biggest buyer of soft wheat in France with around 145,000 tons per year.
The launch of the Harrys wheat chain marks an ambitious step in supporting French farmers’ activity and agricultural practices that are more respectful of the environment. The new chain, based on technical specifications defined though mutual consultations with all of the concerned actors – farmers, cooperatives, millers etc. – will be effective as early as the 2018 harvest. Harrys is committed to a better remuneration for farmers and to collaborating based on pluriannual contracts.
The chain will be deployed progressively until 2021, when 100 percent of the wheat millers’ selection will be produced under a chart of responsibility. 200 farmers have already joined the process.
«Harrys’ responsible wheat chain shares common ground with the EGA negotiations. Beyond supplying wheat of a superior quality that benefits the consumer, one of the goals of Harrys’ wheat chain is to integrate farmers into a virtuous approach aiming to bring them better pay and to guarantee agricultural practices that are more respectful of the environment and of biodiversity,» declared Miloud Benaouda, Head of Barilla Western Europe.
To satisfy the preferences of today’s consumers, who are in search of healthier and more balanced nutrition, Harrys is releasing two new lines of sandwich bread in the spring of 2018: a line of sandwich bread without added sugar available in May 2018 and a line of organic sandwich bread in June 2018.
With 5 production sites throughout France, Harrys employs around 1,600 workers in the country and is the number one employer in the Châteauroux region.
