Origo.hu reports that the country is soon to be “overrun” be a “network of social shops” supplied with organic produce grown by members of the cooperative MAGOSZ. There are currently 41 such stores selling fruit, vegetables and meat at reduced prices around the country, but the coordinators of the movement hope this figure will reach 500 in the coming years. According to director Gyula Budai, the stores are supplied by as many as 1,000 providers and hundreds of shopkeepers are lining up to join the scheme, which was set up for a very small outlay in January of this year. This exponential growth will require a considerable logistics network, which is why the MAGOSZ association is in the process of building its first warehouse, a 500 square-meter space in south Buda that will supply the whole of Pest County.
I wonder…is there any label on the produce showing that it is organic? Like the USDA sticker in the US?
The organic aspect is not 100% clear from the source article (except that the growth of the chain certainly is organic), but the fruit and veg is not mass produced and an ethical aspect is therefore implied. However, the social aspect is that produce is purchased directly from local suppliers, which allows prices to be kept up to 30% below supermarket rates.
In any case, organic just means it was grown in the ground, right?
It is organic in the sense that most of the suppliers are smallholdings who could not afford chemical sprays even if they wanted them,some of it will however be ‘Bio-Kontrol’ certified,like our produce.
This is new for MAGOSZ, since they are essentially an organization promoting the “Made in Hungary” (“MAGOSZ”) label. It is not organic unless they have the Biokultura or Biokontroll ecolables from the Hunarian organic farmers’ association.
Thanks for the additional info, guys.