Magros 2013 – a gathering of traders and producers in the agricultural-food industry

The editorial board of the magazine Suvremena trgovina, under the high patronage of the President of the Republic, is organizing MAGROS 2013 on October 10 of this year, the largest gathering of traders and producers from the agricultural-food industry. The sponsors of this event are also the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Croatian Chamber of Economy, and the Croatian Crafts Chamber.

The organizers’ efforts are aimed at having representatives of production and trade jointly assess their position and future after Croatia’s accession to the European Union, which has significantly changed all market relations. We have assessed that the profession itself must fight for a more appropriate status and treatment in the overall economic policy. It must convince economic policy makers of the need for new relations in the field of trade and production.

However, this is not only a matter of economic parameters but also a social issue, an issue of employment, which is extremely important for Croatia, which has such a large number of unemployed, and can have further negative repercussions, so we must find an answer to this question. The absence of a national retail development strategy has proven to be detrimental. Therefore, we are now trying to revitalize MAGROS to encourage reflections on how to make trade more efficient, more rational, and how to put it even more in the service of the Croatian economy, that is, how to fill the shelves of domestic and foreign retail chains more with products from domestic production.

Why attend Magros?
Today, trade dictates (and threatens) production. This leads to unnecessary misunderstandings that seriously complicate the position of domestic producers. It is forgotten that greater unity among producers and traders and a strong common platform for cooperation could finally contribute to a change in behavior.

The concentration of retail chains conditions the concentration of supply, so the fate of many, especially small producers, largely depends on the willingness of retail chains to place their products on the shelves of their sales outlets. However, this often leads primarily to the purchase of conditions, while the products themselves are secondary. Large retail chains simply take (which is logical) an increasingly larger share of the consumer pie, and their share of total turnover is constantly growing.

Trade increasingly dictates placements and the relationship to production. Today, it is increasingly pointed out that retail chains are filled with goods of foreign origin, while there are fewer and fewer products from domestic producers. This relationship will increasingly change in favor of products of foreign origin. Croatia’s accession to the European Union leads to further market liberalization. This will certainly increase the pressure of imported products and the desire of foreign producers and retail chains to place them as much as possible on the Croatian market. First of all, it should be understood that global retail in the conditions of the global market and global consumption structure has become a reality. Are we ready enough for this?

These are the topics that will be discussed at the largest gathering of food and beverage producers and the largest retail chains in our country, and we will also hear some experiences about this in the European Union.