STC clarifies fish purchasing deal |21 April 2020
The Seychelles Trading Company (STC) has clarified that the state-owned retail and wholesale company is not purchasing fish directly from fishermen, but rather from fish processors.
STC’s chief executive, Christine Joubert, made this statement yesterday in regards to the recently announced programmes to safeguard the national food supply, both in the agricultural and fisheries sector, in order to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.
So far, only three fish processors have expressed interests and agreed to the conditions set by the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) to purchase fish caught by local artisanal fishermen who are struggling during the COVID-19 outbreak. The processors would then process and sell to shops and retail companies such as STC.
Only artisanal fishermen are allowed to go out to fish during the day at present.
“STC does not buy directly from fishermen. SFA has come up with a programme whereby the fishermen sell their catch directly to the processors and the processors process the fish into different parts and pack it properly in consumer packs for further sell to STC.”
“By the time it comes to STC the fish are ready and well packed to be distributed to other retails shops,” Ms Joubert noted, adding that it would be unrealistic for each fishermen to show up at STC to sell their fish.
“We cannot buy the fish as is. The fish needs to be scaled, cleaned and packaged for our customers and STC cannot do that part which is why we need the processors.”
“The programme for fish has just started and we have already received about 500kg up until today (April 19, 2020) for distribution and it is already on sale in our shops, but we have other fish products also which we are buying from other processors outside this programme.”
In regards to the programme for the agricultural sector, STC expects to buy vegetables and fruits from local farmers which it would later sell and distribute from its wholesale section to other retailers.
Ms Joubert was quick to highlight the fact that STC has and is still buying produce from farmers on a daily basis to sell at hypermarket and its supermarket outlets on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.
“We were doing this even before COVID-19. It’s nothing new for us,” Ms Joubert stated.
“What STC has not yet started is buying all produce from farmers to store and wholesale to other shops. And for this STC is working with the Seychelles Agricultural Agency and the Farmer's Association to create a structure in which this can occur in an efficient manner,” she explained.
“You must agree that it would not make sense for STC to engage with each farmer individually on this. This has to be done on a collective basis so that we are assured of what products STC is getting in terms of quantity, frequency, quality and prices – there has to be a coordinated approach.”
Ms Joubert yesterday further clarified that the rumours stating that STC freighted a cargo flight to bring vegetables to Seychelles from Dubai is false.
“The stock was not for STC. The company is not air freighting any perishables for the moment,” she noted.
Elsie Pointe