Hungarians happy to face accession challenge
join the EU in May have already begun raising concerns about the
likely effect of opening up their borders to companies in the rest
of the bloc, food producers in Hungary, it seems, see no reason for
fear.
A recent survey of Hungarian food purchases carried out by the Kopint-Datorg market research group found that most of the food bought and eaten by Hungarian producers is produced in Hungary itself, and that domestic producers therefore have less to fear from liberalising trade with 24 other nations than those in some of the other accession countries.
According to MTI, Kopint-Datorg questioned 1,000 shops in various regions regarding 12 major food products to gauge what effect - if any - EU entry is likely to have. Food imports have risen steadily since the end of the Communist era in 1989, helped by the lifting of restrictions but also by a major overhaul of the Hungarian farm system which left Hungarian producers unable to meet demand for certain products.
The strengthening of the Hungarian economy over the last decade has also led to higher disposable incomes and the resulting increase in demand for imported products, perceived as being of higher quality.
But while the levels of imported goods has certainly risen, Hungarians still have a preference for products made in their own country, even if these are no longer restricted to traditional Magyar products. A number of major multinational players already have local production facilities in Hungary, allowing products which were initially imported from the west to be made in Hungary itself at a fraction of the cost.
According to the research, imports now account for 10 per cent of sales of the 12 food items assessed by Kopint-Datorg. Fresh fruit accounts for the majority of imports, while Hungary is most self-sufficient when it comes to meat, just 1 per cent of which is imported. Confectionery and alcohol imports account for 16-17 per cent of total consumption of these products, while imports account for 10 per cent of overall consumption of vegetables.
Hungary may still have four months to go before it becomes a Member State, but it is already a major trading partner of other EU countries - more than half the imports of food and drink products come from the 15 current members. A further 25 per cent come from other former Soviet bloc nations - many of which will also join the EU in May - with 8-10 per cent coming from North and South America, the research showed.
Imported food products are also more likely to be found on the shelves of an international supermarket chain than those of a traditional Hungarian grocer, the report showed. Just 7 per cent of the goods carried by small Hungarian stores are imported compared to 16 per cent for the large supermarkets.
The report concludes that since four-fifths of the agricultural and food trade with the rest of the EU has already been liberalised, accession should not pose too great a threat to Hungarian producers. As for processed products, most Hungarian manufacturers are already up to western standards, the report suggests, and imported products are no longer seen as clearly of better quality.
And even packaging and presentation, which were once the weak points of Hungarian-made goods, are now improving as well.
