Lota Digital’s technology brings the quality and history of fresh fish from Portuguese fishermen to Makro customers.

Lota Digital just celebrated a partnership with Makro and, as of today, that allows customers to have access to the freshest fish, with guaranteed quality, captured exclusively by traditional Portuguese fishermen.

Through Lota Digital’s B2B online marketplace, Makro can buy national fish directly from adhering fishermen and, with this initiative, strengthen support for the national and local economy.

Currently, the Lota Digital project, which allows a more direct and immediate connection between fishermen and buyers, operates in Peniche, in partnership with Docapesca, and is expected to be extended to other national ports. Thus, the partnership will generate an important incentive for the fishing communities involved, as well as for the consumption of the national product. “Makro is an ideal partner, as it is aligned with Lota Digital’s value proposition, valuing the fisherman and the Portuguese product. With this partnership, our fishermen’s network is even more strengthened, and we managed to stimulate sales in this important moment of economic recovery”, says Pedro Manuel, CEO of Lota Digital.

In addition, all fish from Lota Digital that arrive at Makro stores, have their quality and freshness guaranteed. When the boat arrives on land, the quality control carried out by the Lota Digital team checks the freshness and characteristics of the fish under a rigorous inspection in accordance with European standards.
These data can be confirmed, and the information about the boat and the details of the catch, through the traceability information provided by Lota Digital. That means all fish will have an “identity card” and a “story” to tell the buyer. “We are delighted with this partnership. Offering our customers the best has always been a priority for Makro. If to this we add the revitalization of the economy around the traditional Portuguese fishing, so we have the best of both worlds. At Makro we are very committed to providing our customers with quality products from all walks of life, with a special focus on the Portuguese, of course. We are an extraordinarily rich country in terms of products and food diversity. That is why our gastronomy has an indisputable quality. With this partnership, we have gained in quality, offer, transparency and traceability, also contributing to the sustainability of traditional Portuguese fishing”, says David Antunes, CEO of Makro Portugal about the strategic importance of the partnership.

Using Blockchain technology, the platform allows access to the total traceability of fish from its origin to its destination, in an immutable, automatic and transparent way, making it available through the reading of a bar code or QR-Code. In addition to confirming the quality and the degree of freshness of the fish, various data are provided, such as the boat and fisherman who carried out the fishing, the date of capture, the date of arrival ashore, packaging and transport, among others. In this way, the Makro customer is also allowed to be more certain of what he consumes or sells in his establishments and to contribute, together with Lota Digital and Makro, to a more responsible and sustainable consumption chain.