By Andrea Hargraves 
The company also cut prices for about 50 basic products in 43 stores located near the border with Ukraine.
Pedronka, Poland’s Jeronimo Martins chain, has pulled 16 products of Russian and Belarusian origin from sale, slashing prices of about 50 basic necessities in 43 stores located near the border with Ukraine.
Called by Lusa, an official source for Jerónimo Martins, owner of Biedronka in Poland, a country that has welcomed thousands of Ukrainian refugees, she said that “so far”, the supermarket chain’s business “has not been affected”.
Asked if there has been any change in the shopping habits of Polish consumers, the same source said that has not yet happened.
“What we have seen is a huge mobilization of our customers to support Ukrainian citizens by purchasing toys, hygiene products and food for donation,” I applied to Jeronimo Martins.
Regarding the actions of the company, the same source added that on February 25, “Pedronka announced a non-refundable financial support of 1,000 zlotys. [cerca de 211 euros, à taxa de câmbio atual] to its Ukrainian employees, who just need to submit an application that is set up to be very simple.”
“The first day this support was paid, 600 employees who have already applied this support (Pedronka employs about 1,800 Ukrainian employees),” the same source added on February 28.
On the same day, the Pedronka and the Pedronka Foundation announced “the launch of a joint program with an investment of 10 million zlotys. [2,1 milhões de euros] To support Ukrainians arriving in Poland to escape the war.”
Polish supermarket chain Jeronimo Martins has allocated five million zlotys (more than one million euros) “to distribute some basic products such as food – especially those with a long shelf life, such as water, instant soup, canned meat, coffee, tea or powdered milk for children – personal hygiene and cleaning products” .
This distribution, he said, “is carried out in partnership with institutions such as Cáritas Polska or the Polish Red Cross, and the logistics cost is also borne by Biedronka”.
The Pedronka Foundation has allocated another five million zlotys “to support refugees, in cooperation with solidarity institutions that accompany Ukrainians and know their needs.”
This program “applies to refugees who do not have family members or contacts in Poland”.
One of the initiatives will be the distribution of shopping vouchers.
An official source from the group that owns Pingo Doce said: “Biedronka will simplify the recruitment process for Ukrainian citizens in its stores and distribution centers” and the group will provide “psychological support to Ukrainian employees.”
In addition to Portugal and Poland, Jerónimo Martins is located in Colombia.