Crony Group sets up fair price shop at factory

Crony Group has opened a fair price shop in their factory premises which will sell daily commodities at discounted rates for 10,000 factory workers.

Cotton Group, the parent company of Belgian buyer B&C collection, and Apon Wellbeing Ltd recently entered into a contract with Crony Group to ensure a 25 per cent discounted grocery basket, consisting of rice, oil, lentils, salt and noodles.

Apon Wellbeing Ltd has also guaranteed regular customers health insurance worth Tk 20,000 and a 5-10 per cent discount on other goods, said a press release. The discounted grocery basket price is Tk 743, compared to a market price equivalent of Tk 991.

Crony Group Chairperson and BGMEA Director Neela Hosna Ara, Cotton Group Managing Director Murielle Degeest and Apon Wellbeing Ltd Head of Growth Yasir Arafat inked the MoU at Crony Group premises.

Crony Group Managing Director AH Aslam Sunny and Tom Tailor Country Manager Fikreta Kicki Tutic were also present on the occasion.

Crony Group has a history of ensuring worker benefits as they had a ‘Calorie Distribution’ CSR programme from 2008-2019 which provided milk, egg, rice, noodles, shemai, sugar, and salt to factory workers.

“The fair price shop aligns with Crony Group’s mission of empowering our greatest asset, our workers. I would like to thank The Cotton Group for their generous donation of $20,000 as a subsidy for essential groceries and Apon Wellbeing Ltd who will operate the store and provide health insurance to workers,” said Neela Hosna Ara.

Murielle Degeest said, “The fair price shop will give workers the chance to buy key necessities at preferential prices and access to things such as medical insurance which means that they are truly investing in the real improvement of their living wage, and therefore the lives of their families too. It is a privilege to be part of something that can impact so many people.”

“We are gradually growing our well-being initiatives to more workers, who are the heart of the fashion industry. So far, we have spread this well-being scheme through 29 fair price shops. We look forward to working with more factories to further sustainable development goals,” said Yasir Arafat.