New commercial strategies will be implemented by the Provincial Storage Company in Ciego de Ávila, from the flexibility in the sales of agricultural products, with the purpose of improving its financial indicators and increasing customer satisfaction.
Yeisel Vega González, deputy director of that entity, explained that the cadres of that organization are made up of professors from the Máximo Gómez Báez University, in this province, to put science into their management, in search of economic efficiency and compliance with the consumer expectations.
He specified that work is done on the creation of a new structure that allows to reverse the complex financial situation of Acopio, with losses equivalent to 20 million pesos and the commitment to eradicate them in the coming months, considering that companies with this situation will not be admitted to the end of the year 2022.
The promotion of retail sales is included in the business strategy; therefore, the leasing of agricultural markets will be limited to 30, despite the positive experiences: stability in supplies and higher quality in food when going directly from the field to the platforms, he emphasized.
The manager explained that at the beginning, the tenants expressed concern about the prices of fuel for the transference, therefore it was decided to transfer their expenses to the cooperatives to which they are associated, where they buy it at 14.00 pesos, a lower price than in the service centers.
By contracting the crops directly with the peasants, business possibilities will be expanded and payments will be expedited, which will favor the supply of agricultural markets.
The Company is in a disadvantageous situation, due to the fact that local producers prioritize sales to other provinces that are trading at higher prices, circumstances that force the contracting of crops to guarantee the supply of Ciego de Ávila`s units, Vega González stressed.
This will make it possible to sustain supplies throughout Acopio's commercial network and extend the experience of new type markets, currently with four ―distributed between the municipalities of Ciego de Ávila, Morón and Baraguá, the latter with two) and projections of reaching 11 by joining other territories, he added.
He explained that there is a purpose to establish two of them, in the municipalities of Chambas and Primero de Enero; and add three ―at the rate of one per area― in the main city and the Morón and Baraguá localities.
They will be units of reference, with a superior quality in services: better image and permanent offers, with benefited products and in different formats to provide added value that makes it possible to increase profits and offer new facilities to consumers, he alleged.
The purpose is to incorporate as many agricultural products as possible, including pork, eggs and poultry, to the extent provided by the self-management of the workers.
The particularities include options that have been accepted in the capital and the town of Gaspar (in Baraguá), such as electronic commerce, sales in freely convertible currency and home services (with additional cost), the latter facilitated by the acquisition of electric tricycles.
As of this November 7, agricultural groups will be formed, made up of four or five workers, including a head in charge of the cost center and a manager, with minimum conditions (vehicle and Company capital) to self-manage the products that they will sell.
As some 40 agricultural groups are formed, the storage warehouses in the municipalities ―current distribution centers for the resources to be marketed in the units―, will focus on wholesale for medical diets, social consumption and the national balance.
Acopio in Ciego de Ávila adopts measures to resolve a complex situation with defaults ―calculated at 130 million pesos―, causing an increase in bank credit lines and debts with important suppliers such as Agro-industrial D Ceballos and La Cuba.
Despite financial tensions, progress is being made in renovating the units, depending on the availability of resources, with the aim of improving services, Vega González concluded.