Rohlik Group announces the launch of its first auxiliary program for small producers and suppliers

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, June 8, 2021 – Europe's leading online grocery delivery service, Rohlik Group (“Rohlik”), announces the launch of its first auxiliary program for small producers & suppliers (“SPSP”) in all countries where it is currently active. New SPSP will support local suppliers and will help small farmers and artisans build a stronger position in the market. The program is currently active in the Czech Republic, it begins today in Hungary and Austria will soon follow. 

SPSP will focus on existing suppliers to enable them to increase production and grow together with the Rohlik company. The program will also be available to new suppliers who do not have the ability to market their merchandise and to those who need support with their cash flow. 

Tomáš Čupr, Founder & Rohlik Group CEO said: “This is a milestone moment for us at the Rohlik Group. We really appreciate the work that farmers do, so we looked for a way to help them make their hard work visible and to sell their produce. That's why we decided to share our know-how and support local farmers and artisans in several segments at the same time.”

This voluntary program will support farmers in a wide range of activities: 

Simplification of administration 

Rohlik wants to reduce the legal and administrative efforts of farmers, so it has developed a simplified contract, it has only two sites plus local necessary legal requirements which are part of the short annexe. 

Crop/production financing support

Farmers are facing volatile cash flow needs during different seasons. In order to help them with faster payments, Rohlik developed together with the company Roger, a simple system of choosing individual invoices for faster payment. Rohlik has improved the system of cash flow for farmers by shortening long invoice maturities to 3 days.

Adam Šoukal, Roger Co-founder & CEO commented: “We are pleased Rohlik has decided to provide the possibility to shorten the due dates of invoice payments to all their farmers. It is the right step to provide farmers with enough funding to run their business and keep investing into sustainable ways of farming. We are very proud to be a part of this. In addition, the simple electronic administration of all the invoices and orders in a dedicated online Rohlik portal is yet another step towards better supplier experience.” 

For further convenience, an electronic invoice system was added via a simplified web EDI tool.

Marketing support of farmers

Rohlik is a proud supporter of local farmers and loves any opportunity to make them visible and present to our customers. To be effective, farmers fill out a simple profile questionnaire, which starts a system of immediate support. Individual farmers will receive up to € 10 000 in free marketing support.

For particular aspects (e.g. suitable photos/short videos) the company is ready to support farmers via its own resources. 

Packaging and logistics

Rohlik also helps with the transport of goods so that suppliers can focus on what they are best at - production and farming. Rohlik is ready to connect them with other companies from which they can outsource the ancillary services that they require, such as logistics.  Because of this, agricultural products are transported in suitable means of transport and at the required temperature directly from the field to the Rohlík warehouses. Thanks to a sophisticated logistics chain, food reaches customers within 6 hours of harvest compared to days within traditional retail.

At the same time, Rohlik Group is looking for the most sustainable packaging for farmers, such as returnable boxes, biodegradable packaging materials, etc. 

Further assistance with services will be developed based on the specific demand of farmers.

Olin Novák, Rohlik Group CCO said: “The COVID-19 crisis has brought about issues regarding food, sustainability and the important role of farmers. Fruit and vegetable farmers are now rapidly starting to use online channels to find customers for their session harvests, however, for those who have no experience of this process, this represents a major change and challenge. Therefore in this critical year, we’re delighted to be able to offer thousands of suppliers access to SPSP.”

One of Rohlik's most important values is sustainability and therefore Rohlik appreciates the farmers who have set out on this journey. The online grocery giant knows that, for example, the decision to switch to organic production is not easy and it takes several years for land and production to be approved by certification bodies. 

Olin Novák, Rohlik Group CCO commented: “In order to support those who want to switch to the organic program, the company is also prepared to temporarily purchase their products before the official approval of certified sales.”

Rohlik Group specializes in sourcing quality products directly from farms to customers and that’s what makes them different from the other retail players. Thanks to this cooperation, customers can receive products from the field to the dinner table within a few hours compared to days within traditional retail.

Rohlik believes that sourcing directly from producers is of huge significance for customers as they access fresher, more authentic and often cheaper food. Therefore SPSP will significantly help not only farmers and artisans, but also customers.

Tomáš Čupr, Founder & Rohlik Group CEO said: “Our mission at Rohlik is a Healthier and Happier Europe. We want to deliver it via Great Food and Great Service pillars. A stronger focus on small producers will enable us to increase the share of the freshest food from local farmers and artisans and this will allow us to fulfil our mission.” 

Europe's leading online grocery delivery service expects the programme to be of particular interest to small and medium-sized suppliers. Rohlik Group will provide support to help these suppliers enrol in the scheme and also welcome offers from partners who would like to get involved in SPSP led by Rohlik Group. 

Ludvík Martin, chairman of the Fruit Growing Union of the Czech Republic said: “We welcome the opportunity to offer the production of smaller fruit farms in the Rohlik.cz network. For smaller production volumes and seasonal fruits it is sometimes difficult to find a place on the market. Large retail chains are not interested in small volumes of local production and not everything can be sold at farmers' markets or directly from the yard.”

The online grocery giant will help farmers and artisans build on their hard work to raise farming standards while giving consumers greater peace of mind that the products they buy demonstrate a commitment to positive economic, environmental, and social pillars. 

Rohlik Group’s commitment will help transform growing practices on hundreds of farms that supply fresh farmer products to the customers. Rohlik recognises the importance of doing what we can to protect small farmers and artisans and its new programme is strongly aligned with its company values and its goal Healthier and Happier Europe.

About Rohlik Group

Founded in 2014 in the Czech Republic, Rohlik Group is Europe's leading online grocery delivery service. Already active in the Czech Republic (Rohlik.cz), Hungary (Kifli.hu) and Austria (Gurkerl.at), the company will be launching in the coming months in Munich, Germany (Knuspr.de) with other big cities in Germany to follow quickly. Deploying world-leading technology & logistics to deliver a huge range of quality products (17 000 SKUs+) offering a 15-minute delivery window with delivery as soon as within two hours of placing an order. The Rohlik family is a data-driven company in everything they do, by owning its end-to-end operations, including having all technology in-house; Rohlik provides a superior customer experience and the freshest food from local farmers and artisans, as well as a broad supermarket selection. The company was recently funded with EUR 190 mil. and is profitable, dynamic and growing rapidly. Rohlik turnover exceeded €300 million in 2020. It currently has 750,000 customers across three international markets. 

For more information visit www.rohlik.group 

For press enquiries, contact Eliška Čeřovská at pr@rohlik.group