CEE supermarkets to increase exports
expecting to significantly increase their food exports to foreign
subsidiaries throughout Europe, giving a major boost to food
producers there, writes Simon Pitman.
Now that European enlargement is a reality, many of the leading foreign supermarkets in eastern Europe - which include names such as Auchan, Metro and Tesco - say that they anticipate a big knock-on effect for their food suppliers, as competitive pricing drives demand for a range of food products in western European.
French retail giant Auchan has a major presence in both Hungary and Poland - the two largest economies of the ten new Member States. In Hungary, Auchan's export market is still relatively undeveloped, but the company has big plans for the future.
According to company spokesperson Katalin Gillemot, Auchan Hungary is aiming to increase its sales to HF50 billion (€20m) in the course of the next five years. This is a relatively ambitious plan given that, presently, the division's exports are relatively negligible - limited to just a small amount of wine and some canned produce.
"We have been working with our food producers for six years now and we are confident that the quality is acceptable for export markets," said Gillemot. "The EU will present big opportunities for exports but we also believe that both Russia and Poland, where Auchan already has a number of retail outlets, will provide significant export opportunities, too.
"We will be looking to export long-life goods, including some of Hungary's famous wines, canned foods and processed meats. We already have the experience of exporting our wines all over Europe and canned goods to Russia, so we will be looking to build on that experience."
Major western retail chains operating out of Poland are also looking for similar dividends. Andrezej Falinski, secretary of the Polish Trade and Distribution Organisation, believes that overall food exports from Poland will grow by 10 per cent in the coming year. He says that this is a figure set to grow and one that will be fed by western retail chains.
In Poland, both Tesco and Metro have small but well established export markets to their outlets throughout the EU. Metro says it is planning to make significant increases in its exports of processed chicken, while Tesco aims to increase exports of fruits and vegetables.
Other western European supermarket retailers looking to increase their exports from Eastern Europe include the French Casino Group, Germany's Lidl and Portuguese group Jeronimo Martins.
