With EU and EBRD support, Montenegro’s Voli supermarket chain has launched the country’s first onlinegrocery service. Their easy-to-use platform now offers customers an array of more than 5,000 products for collection or delivery. This has made it easier for people to remain safe at home which is a crucial step in the fight against Covid-19.

Of course, shoppers were not the only ones who had reason to panic when the pandemic hit. When lockdown measures were introduced at the end of March last year, many farmers were left with tonnes of produce at risk of going bad because of restaurant closures. To help these businesses, Voli decided to partner with small Montenegrin agricultural producers and has since developed core supplier relationships.

Without Voli, it would have been almost impossible for these small local producers to reach consumers. The supermarket promotes a local system with fewer steps between grower and consumer. It is committed to paying a fair wage, is community-driven and diverse. The system also supports organic and sustainable farming and promotes transparency ‒ something extended supply chains cannot always do.

Voli received donor support from the EU-funded Western Balkan Enterprise Development and Innovation Facility(WBEDIF) combined with financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).