Fresh, tasty, Luxembourgish

Wednesday 9th October. We're on the Biogros premises in Munsbach. This is where many of the organic products that customers can find in the Cactus aisles are packaged.

There's no plastic here. Only recyclable or compostable materials are used to wrap high-quality, fresh, and local products. Using as little material as possible for a growing number of products has long been a concern shared by both parties. In the near future, some fruit and vegetables will be switching from packaging in cellulose film (a wood-based material) to resource-saving paper banderoles.

At Cactus and Biogros, innovation never stops. Their partnership, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, is proof of this. Karin Weber, Managing Director of Biogros, Véronique Schmitt, Marketing Director of Cactus, Ralf Leifgen, CEO of the Oikopolis Group and Director of the Biog cooperative, and Francis Demesse, Director of the Cactus fruit and vegetable centre, gave us a behind-the-scenes look at their collaboration.

Lëtzebuerger Journal: The name Cactus may be familiar to everyone in Luxembourg, but that's not necessarily the case for Biogros and Biog. Could you tell us what this is all about?

Ralf Leifgen: Biogros is a wholesaler specialising in organic food products. Biog is both the cooperative of organic farmers (Bio-Baueren-Genossenschaft) in Luxembourg – which now has 30 members – and a brand offering organic products.

Biogros was founded in 1992. How did that happen?

Karin Weber: Maybe we need to go back even further. Because first, there were the farmers who decided to restructure their farms in favour of organic farming. But they soon realised that producing alone was not enough. You need a structure to get your products to market. Transport, but also foreign suppliers so that you can offer a complete range. That's how it all started.

What does Biogros mean to Cactus?

Véronique Schmitt: For Cactus, Biogros is a long-standing partner. Thirty years! Thirty years during which we have, in my opinion, developed a range of organic products for our customers that have their roots in Luxembourg. They're local. Not only are they eaten here, they're also produced here. Most of the time they don't leave the country at all. We're talking about very short journeys.

Francis Demesse: It goes even further than that. Since we added artisanal cuisine, we've also been producing a lot of processed products. Finished dishes that we call the fourth or fifth range. Salads, sauces, dressings, soups… ready-to-eat products. So all this has evolved over time, as has our partnership. I've only been involved in 27 of the 30 years, but I've felt this very close partnership since my first day at Cactus.

Karin Weber: I've described how Biogros came into being, but Cactus is also a pioneer in its own right. Because 30 years ago, it wasn't easy to offer organic products in a supermarket. It has been the norm for the last 5 to 10 years, but 30 years ago it wasn't the case at all. Very early on, Cactus got involved and reached out to the organic movement.

Your partnership dates back to 1994. How did the partnership come about?

Francis Demesse: For Biogros, it was Änder Schank who laid the foundation stone. At Cactus, it was Raymond Dahm, my predecessor, with Marco Differding and Henri Jungels. There's an anecdote, but I don't know if it's true…

Karin Weber: Yes, yes, the anecdote… (laughs) In those days, Biogros knew that Cactus existed and vice versa, but they were two separate worlds. Organic was still something very exotic. Then they met during a radio interview. The first said he'd like to work with the second, but the second didn't really want to. Then the second guy said that yes, he really wants to, but he thought the first guy didn't want to. After that, they said, "Come on, let's give it a go!"

Véronique Schmitt: And today, organic at Cactus is just normal. We want to have an organic range for every product, and we're happy to have a strong brand in Biogros to be able to do that. The organic market is full of brands from all over the world. For us, it's a real plus to be able to say that with Biog we have a brand that we've been working with for 30 years. We know where their products come from, how they're processed and how they're transported, so we can give consumers who are looking for these values total confidence.

30 years… that's a long time. What have been the highlights of your collaboration?

Véronique Schmitt: What I find very interesting and impressive is the way in which this partnership has developed over time. The continuous development and the willingness of both parties to always try new things and move on from fruit and vegetables to a range that today includes dairy products and even convenience products like soups and desserts, such as waffles. We're working very closely with the farmers on a tripartite basis. Personally, I find it terribly exciting.

Francis Demesse: What's great is that we started with potatoes and carrots and today we offer over 300 organic products – and the range is only growing year on year through this intense collaboration.

Ralf Leifgen: From the point of view of organic farmers, the best moment was definitely the decision to work with Cactus, even though not all farmers were convinced 30 years ago. This decision has opened up an enormous range of possibilities for organic farmers. Our whole structure has been able to flourish and grow. I don't think organic farming would have grown so fast without Cactus.

From potatoes and carrots to 300 items on the shelves. But do they all come from Luxembourg or are some from abroad?

Karin Weber: It depends. Fruit and vegetables are also seasonal. We have a wide range in summer. Fine vegetables, salads, carrots, potatoes… the last two almost all year round. After that, we also have partners in the wider region, fruit plantations, with whom we've been working for years. So for everything that's not available locally, we try to keep the distances as short as possible. In winter, for example, our vegetables come from Spain, our salads from France and our citrus fruits from Italy. Our guideline is always to buy as close to home as possible and to work first and foremost, if possible, with long-standing and trusted partner producers.

So how does the product actually get from producer to plate?

Ralf Leifgen: Let's take potatoes as an example. Our Biogros colleagues collect them from the growers. The growers take care of storing the potatoes almost all year round, to ensure that the quality is maintained. In the meantime, they have this possibility, which was not the case in the past. When it's time for us to deliver the product, we pick it up, then bring it back here to Munsbach for packing. From here, they go to Cactus.

Francis Demesse: We receive them and take care of distribution. If we take the example of salads in summer, they are cut in the morning, arrive at Biogros in the morning or around midday, and are packed the same day. In the evening, they are delivered to Cactus and the next day they are on the shelves. Less than 24 hours after being cut. This is the case for many products.

Véronique Schmitt: Then, these potatoes and salads come to delight our customers. In July, we carried out a survey among our customers, but also among non-customers. The feedback was unequivocal: "When I'm looking for taste and I want something fresh, I go to Cactus. Fresh, tasty, good, home-grown produce is something that's close to our hearts.

We talk a lot about fruit and vegetables, but it's not just that..

Ralf Leifgen: We also produce cereals and flour, fresh milk, yoghurt, cream… Milk from 7 organic farmers here in Luxembourg. We also have two farm-based cheese dairies. They produce soft cheeses like Camembert – Klenge Mëllen – and Munster – Klenge Sténkert -, hard cheeses like Gouda – Eisleker Kéis – and other kinds of cheese. All made from our own milk, which guarantees quality. Once the cheeses have matured, they arrive at our premises in Munsbach, where the hard cheeses are sliced or diced and packaged.

We talked about packaging. Organic produce is often criticised for this. Why is organic produce packaged, and how can we limit this?

Francis Demesse: The fact is that we need to be able to differentiate between organic and conventional products – and packaging is one way of doing this. At Cactus, organic and conventional products are very close together. It's important for them to be recognisable so that they don't get mixed up.

Véronique Schmitt: I like to turn things upside down to put them in perspective. We need to be able to communicate and show customers what is organic and what is not. Now imagine packaging conventional products. The volume of conventional products is still much higher.

Francis Demesse: That's a subject open to debate. I also see it this way, that the packaged product is protected. Protected from customers who might touch it, but it also lives longer.

Karin Weber: This packaging isn't made of plastic either. For a long time, even before the strict rules we've had since last year, we've been trying to use as few materials as possible, and materials that are recyclable and compostable. This means that we mainly work with paper, in the form of trays or banners. When we use film for packaging, it's not plastic either, but cellulose. A wood-based material. It can be completely composted.

Francis Demesse: To sum up, we don't pack for the fun of packing. We package in order to communicate and to reassure our customers.

The price of our products is also the talk of the town… Reality or cliché?

Ralf Leifgen: Reality, but there's a reason behind it. Organic farmers don't work with chemicals such as pesticides. This makes the work much more time-consuming and difficult. Much of the weeding is done by hand, for example. They also have to plan further ahead to protect their land. It's a labour-intensive and time-consuming process. It comes at a price; an opportunity price and a cash price. And despite this, demand is lower than for conventional farming. So it's logical that organic farmers should have more. Otherwise, they can't exist.

Karin Weber: There are also other aspects, specific to Luxembourg. If customers want local production and local products, they need to be aware of the rents paid by producers in Luxembourg. They are much higher than in other countries. The same applies to the wage structure. We do a lot of things here that we could also do abroad. But it's also important to create jobs for the people who live here.

Véronique Schmitt: That's an important point, yes. Of course, at Cactus we source products from all over the world. But what shouldn't be underestimated is the economic strength that we inject into the local production system. Organic is more expensive, but it's money that flows into the local economy.

A lot has changed since 1994. What does the future hold for the partnership between Cactus and Biogros?

Karin Weber: One thing we feel very strongly about is supporting the next generation of young farmers and giving them the opportunity to do great things. We have children of partner farmers who are taking over the family business. They have new ideas and want to innovate. At the moment, we have a great project by the daughter of one of our farmers, who is producing her own eggs here in Luxembourg, with another young farmer. Eist Ee has been on the Cactus shelves since the beginning of October.

Francis Demesse: The future is the next 30 years. And in 30 years' time, we, or our successors, will be sitting around this table. We can't know what tomorrow will bring, but we can imagine it. More projects together, working even more closely together. That's how I see it. Taking action and believing in it.

Karin Weber: We've talked about the new generation of farmers, but tomorrow's consumers are also very important. They have different expectations when it comes to their food. They eat differently. We're talking about vegetarianism, veganism, proteins, lactose and more. We want to have an offer for them. In the past, the finished product had a bad image. Today, we're talking about "Clean Convenience": the possibility of having a finished product, a dish, that is high-quality, healthy and fresh.

Ralf Leifgen: We want to follow this trend and modernise our Biog brand, also in terms of design. We want it to be more attractive and appealing.

Véronique Shmitt: Once again, this is where Nëmmen dat Bescht really comes into its own.