Poland reaps accession benefits
significant surge in both the exports of dairy products and beef
since it joined the European Union at the beginning of May.
Whilst exports of beef to the European Union are said to be up 25 per cent, a significant increase in the export of dairy products within the market is said to be pushing up prices in Poland, a number of national Polish press publications have reported.
Meanwhile the Polish Ministry of agriculture says it also believes that cheap fresh fruit and vegetables will lead to a surge in exports as many crops are now coming into season.
Currently many products are up to one third cheaper than found in other Member States, which is adding to growing pressure from big supermarket chains to source Polish foods.
However industry obervers also believe that the exceptional competitive pricing of many Polish foods will be short lived, as prices in the country catch up with the rest of the European Union. Many believe that in a year's time price disparity will have all but disappeared. Indeed the disparity is already showing signs of closing up, as domestic retailers increase prices of foodstuffs exported that are becoming increasingly difficult to source as demand picks up from the European Union.
Speaking earlier this year, Jacek Czarnecki of the Polish Federation of Food Industries, said he believed that, although the extremely competitive pricing of Polish foods would be relatively short lived he was more optimistic that Poland would be able to maintain its competitive pricing in the long term. He also said that accession would provide better long term opportunities for food producers as it would open the door to new markets and new customers.
But not all Polish food companies are reporting run away successes in trying to access the new markets. Gregor Osobka is head of marketing at Uno Fresco Tradex, a Polish company that combines the resources of a number of small and medium-sized food companies in an effort to expand their export opportunities.
"We hope that now Poland is a part of Europe that there will be increasing opportunities for the companies we represents," he said. "However our initial problem is that it is still very difficult to break into the bigger and more established markets within the EU. In particular the German market has proved very difficult for us to penetrate. Market characteristics play a large part in gaining penetration and in Germany the market is very rigid. I would say that other markets, such as France, are more amenable and I forsee better opportunities for us there."
Osobka also agreed with Czarnecki on the issue of Polish food companies maintaining their long-term price competitiveness. "The biggest advantage for us is pricing. I believe that although food prices in Poland will continue to rise in the coming months, Polish companies will be able to maintain their competitive edge in the long term."
On the other hand imports of foods from other European Union countries are also on the up, though not to the same degree as exports. The Ministry of Agriculture has reported that exports of products such as bananas, tea and coffee have all increased significantly. The Ministry says that overall it expects a clear trade surplus in foodstuffs, continuing a trend that was only reversed in 2003 after a long-term period of trade deficit.
