Czech Farmers Launch Virtual Market

The discussion about food quality in Czech supermarkets is ongoing – even the city’s popular farmer’s market tend to come under occasional scrutiny for false labelling.

A newly launched service aims to give customers increased certainty about the origins of their food.

Tomas Němec, whose dairy farm Němcova Radonice is largely responsible for the project, told HN: “We cooperate with producers who we have complete confidence will fulfill our requirements.”

Products must meet strict quality criteria, contain no artificial additives, chemical dyes, or preservatives. Mr. Němec added that the group is comprised of tightly defined suppliers who work within traditional methods and technologies.

Proponents say that the new service will not only benefit consumers; farmers are not bound to wholesale intermediaries and their pricing dictates and volume requirements.

Additionally the venture is unique for selling only items that have been manufactured, from raw material to finished product, by a single producer and delivering those foods to customers through farmer’s market trucks conveniently stationed around Prague.

The modest selection includes meat, dairy, and produce (although our initial browse saw the fruit and veg page empty with a note on seasonability).

A sampling of prices: a 1kg farm-raised chicken is 140 CZK; a 480g beef striploin is 280 CZK; 1l of milk is 28 CZK; half a dozen eggs is 27 CZK. Other interesting items we spotted were juices, microbrew, bread, and even farm-fresh ice-cream.