Poland looking for new sales markets after losing Russia

With an export of two million tonnes, valued at one billion euro, and an import of two million tonnes, valued at 1.5 billion euro, Poland is positioned between the global numbers 15 and 20 as a fruit and vegetable country. In 2016, exports might have been ten per cent higher than in the previous year, but in 2013, exports were ten per cent higher than the two million tonnes of 2016, with 2.2 million. This was mostly caused by the loss of the Russian market due to the boycott. Although Poland partially got around that boycott with the route through Belarus, this wasn’t enough, according to analysis from Fruit&VegetableFacts.

In 2016, Belarus was the largest buyer of fresh fruit and vegetables from Poland, with 670,000 tonnes. The Polish export relies heavily on apples. Half of the Polish export of fresh fruit and vegetables normally consists of this product. Mushrooms are the second product, and are still increasing. 

The Polish import of fresh fruit and vegetables has stabilised after a continuous growth in 2016. The (direct) import from non-EU countries, such as Ecuador, Turkey or Nicaragua, continued increasing, but import from EU countries declined somewhat in recent years. Spain is the best supplier, followed by the Netherlands and Germany. Bananas are the most important import product, followed by oranges, tomatoes, watermelons and lemons.

Losing the Russian market was of great importance to the Polish export. In 2013, 940,000 tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables were sold from Poland to Russia. After implementing the boycott in the summer of 2014, fresh fruit and vegetables could still be delivered to Russia via a detour (mostly through Belarus). The export to Belarus increased from 230,000 tonnes in 2013 to 690,000 tonnes in 2016. This mostly concerns apples. Last year, Poland supplied at least 514,000 tonnes of apples to Belarus. That was three-quarters of the total Polish export to that country.

After Belarus, Romania and Kazakhstan are the numbers two and three on the list of buyers. Especially export to Romania increased significantly in 2016, almost more than 50 per cent, to 70,000 tonnes. For an important part, this also concerns apples, but surprisingly, the (re)export of bananas from Poland to Romania also increased considerably, to more than 13,000 tonnes. The export to Kazakhstan practically exclusively concerns apples. Last year, the export to Germany decreased sharply, from 208,000 tonnes in 2015 to 180,000 tonnes in the previous year. This wasn’t because of the mushrooms, of which the export even increased, but the decrease of the export of Polish apples dropped from 90,000 tonnes in 2014 and 2015 to 51,000 tonnes in the previous year.

An increase could be seen for the export to the UK. This was mostly due to the sharp increase of export of mushrooms from 23,000 tonnes in 2012, to 30,000 tonnes in 2015 and 39,000 tonnes in the previous year. Onions are the second Polish product that is often sent to the UK. Mostly apples are sent to other EU countries, such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Netherlands mostly get sent Polish onions. The increase of Polish export to Ukraine was also remarkable. Besides apples, this also concerns the reexport of, among other products, citrus, kakis, peaches and nectarines, for an important part.

Poland puts a lot of work in finding new sales markets after losing the Russian market. Besides the countries mentioned before, export to a great number of other countries also increased. These countries include: Serbia (apples), Bulgaria (apples and mushrooms), Italy (mushrooms), Egypt (apples), Sweden (apples and mushrooms), Greece (mushrooms and apples), Norway (apples and mushrooms) and Austria (mushrooms and cauliflower).

The Polish import of fresh fruit and vegetables from EU countries reached its peak in 2014, with 1.8 million tonnes, both in 2015 and 2016 there was a decrease to 1.67 million tonnes. This was caused by a decrease of import from Spain, the Netherlands and Germany. The import from Italy (grapes, watermelons and kiwifruit), Greece (oranges) and Portugal (oranges and tomatoes) increased. From outside of the EU, it mostly is import from Ecuador (bananas), Colombia (bananas) and Macedonia (cabbage).

Last year, Poland imported 380,000 tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables from the Netherlands. Bananas (re-export) was the most important product, with an amount of 44,000 tonnes in 2016. The import of onions from the Netherlands dropped to just over 40,000 tonnes last year, compared to 65,000 tonnes in 2014. The import of tomatoes from the Netherlands increased to 38,000 tonnes. The largest share of this (34,000 tonnes) is Dutch tomatoes, and the remainder is re-export. Of the Dutch tomatoes, the largest share is vine tomatoes. 

The Polish import of pears from the Netherlands amounted to 27,000 tonnes last year, 16,000 tonnes of which were Dutch product, divided into 11,600 tonnes of Conference and 3,600 tonnes (+174%) of Buerre Alexander Lucas. Furthermore, the import from the Netherlands also consisted of a number of re-export products, such as lemons, oranges and grapes. The Polish import of bell peppers from the Netherlands decreased in the previous year. This was mostly because the re-export from the Netherlands decreased. The export of Dutch bell peppers increased. For the largest part, this concerns red Dutch bell peppers.