In order to deliver peasant products to customers faster and cheaper, entrepreneurs are developing a network of parcel machines designed specifically for food products. In the coming months, the IziPizi platform plans to open a new parcel machine in Bauska, but entrepreneurs in Ogre, Jelgava, Sigulda and other regions are also interested in becoming franchise partners. This is reported by LSM.lv. The first grocery parcel machine appeared two years ago at the Agenskalns market. To more conveniently deliver their products to customers, temperature controlled cabinets are used by peasants, home producers and other entrepreneurs. The founder of the grocery parcel machine company IziPizi, Rolands Dzenis, noted that at the moment the parcel machines are located in Riga, Tukums and Dundaga, and in the coming months it is planned to place a parcel machine in Bauska, with the farms themselves participating in its creation. “The products are placed in a cabinet with a temperature of +2..+6 degrees. At the moment, we put frozen products separately, but we are also working on a new solution specifically for frozen products. Now we have changed the strategy, since we created previous parcel machines more on our own and We thought that we, as a startup, would attract investments and then build it ourselves, but peasants began calling us from all sides and asking: “Roland, when will I have a parcel machine?” We realized that we could not cope with this ourselves, because in order to do so. to say that we have covered the whole of Latvia, we need to build 100 parcel terminals. This is a large volume, since one parcel terminal costs 18,000 euros, and we realized that the rules need to be changed and the peasants were told: if you need it, come build it with us,” – he said. According to Dzenis, a 10-year franchise agreement was prepared, and then an event was organized in Bauska, where the first investors reserved four shares. In turn, in Ogre IziPizi is in the process of finalizing the agreement. Currently, the products most often end up in parcel machines are those at higher prices, for example, confectionery, fresh meat, eggs. The cooperative Latvijas liellops also participated in the creation of the parcel machine in Bauska. The head of Latvijas liellops, Alma Berzina, said that grocery parcel machines reduce the supply chain and costs for farmers. Producers from the cooperative do not supply meat to stores. "Packing machines are a way to avoid getting stuck at the stage of the chain where there is a supplier to the chain stores, who end up marking up and are actually the ones who make money from the sale of the product. Here the manufacturer himself can set a markup to cover the costs of parcel machine and logistics, and reach the buyer directly. At the same time, each peasant does not have to drive his own bus, transport his goods back and forth along the same roads. So I think this is a very effective model to strive for. And we are still at an early stage,” Berzinya noted. In Ogre, entrepreneurs also expressed interest in creating a parcel terminal. The head of the entrepreneurial society Ogre Martins Vance has already bought the first parts of the parcel machine and is confident that such food parcels will become increasingly popular, and the franchise concept will allow those who participated in the creation of the parcel machine to earn money in the long term. A parcel terminal may appear in Bauska in the fall, after which it is planned to open similar parcel terminals in Ogre, Jelgava, Kekava and Sigulda.
