OREANDA-NEWS. DIXY has won the "Best Retail Network in Europe" Conecta Award at the Fruit Attraction international trade forum in Madrid.

Analysts note that sales of fruits and vegetables are rising annually in Europe and Russia. This award confirms the importance of the close dialog between producers, suppliers and sellers of fruits and vegetables worldwide.

"DIXY has been importing fresh fruits and vegetables for three years now, and the supplier pool consists of around 120 companies from 23 countries", said Marat Magkeyev, Vice President of Logistics and International Relations. "The Group appreciates its efforts with international partners being recognized. By developing the pool of our global suppliers, we are increasing the range of fruits and vegetables in our stores. While this product category is strategically important and generates traffic in our neighborhood stores, most fruits and vegetables simply do not grow in Russia's climate, so we see great potential in working with European partners".

DIXY imports fruits and vegetables from various countries, including France, Spain, Greece, the US, Turkey, Belgium, Argentina, Israel, and the Netherlands. The product category accounts for around 13% of its turnover of goods. The year-round leaders in terms of both volume sales and revenues are bananas, apples and tomatoes.

The winners of the third Conecta Awards ceremony in various categories were chosen based on voting by producers and suppliers: Grupo El Arbol ("Top Quality and Freshness"), Carrefour ("Most Innovative Idea"), NaturaSi ("Most Sustainable Project") and Grupo El Corte Ingles ("Involvement with Suppliers").

OJSC DIXY Group (RTS, MICEX: DIXY) is one of Russia's leading retailers of foods and everyday products.

The first DIXY store was opened in Moscow in 1999, and after that the Company has been experiencing the period of the intensive organic development, followed by the major acquisition of Victoria Group in June 2011.

As of September 30, 2013, the Company operated 1,667 stores, including 1,554 DIXY neighborhood stores, 81 Victoria stores, 1 CASH store, and 31 compact hypermarkets MegaMart and MiniMart.

The Company operates in Central, Northwest and Urals federal districts of Russia, and in Kaliningrad region.