Swiss Migros starts selling biofuel

Switzerland's largest supermarket chain, Migros, has reached an agreement to import 1.5 million litres of biofuel a year from Brazil to distribute through its Migrol service stations, reports the Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico.

The biodiesel covered by the deal is to be produced by organic soy farmers in Brazil's south-eastern state of Parana. Migros has agreed to pay CHF2.35 (US$1.96) per litre for the fuel, CHF0.60 above the market price. The import deal was brokered by Gebana, a Swiss-based fair trade company that aims to encourage higher prices for producers that contribute towards the preservation of the environment.

Migros has claimed the deal will allow it to market the world's first ecological and fairly traded fuel. According to the financial source Global Insight, such small-scale, environmentally-focused co-operation agreements could become more common in the biofuels sector as concerns grow over the impact of rapidly-increasing feedstock production on deforestation and food prices.