According to EastFruit analysts, despite the world’s leading position in the exports of certain fruits and berries, such as fresh apples or frozen raspberries, Poland remains a major net importer of produce and could be a very attractive market.
According to EastFruit analysts, despite the world’s leading position in the exports of certain fruits and berries, such as fresh apples or frozen raspberries, Poland remains a major net importer of produce and could be a very attractive market.
Moreover, over the past five years, Poland has significantly increased imports of fruits and vegetables. In 2022, imports of produce to Poland, including the nuts and mushrooms segment, reached US $3.8 billion. At the same time, exports of fruits and vegetables amounted to US $3.1 billion, and the negative balance of international trade was close to $700 million.
It is clear that Poland is a huge produce trading country. For comparison, Uzbekistan, the largest exporter in the region, earns $700-800 million per year in exports, and Moldova – only $200-220 million. In other words, Moldova’s foreign trade turnover for fruits and vegetables is 20 times less than the foreign trade turnover of Poland.
Not surprisingly, many suppliers from Ukraine, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Georgia are interested in the prospects of supplying their products to the Polish markets and the possibilities of this market. Therefore, EastFruit analysts decided to show the structure and trends of fruit and vegetable imports in this country.
What vegetables and fruits does Poland import?
Like most other countries in the Northern Hemisphere, Poland’s main import item is the banana, which accounts for about 9% of imports by value. All citrus fruits account for about 13% of imports, and in general, these two categories of fruits, which are not grown in Poland due to climate limitations, account for 22% of imports.
Tomatoes hold third place in terms of imports in the fruit and vegetable segment of Poland and account for another 9% – only slightly less than bananas.
It is interesting that Poland, being one of the world’s largest exporters of frozen fruits and vegetables, is also a very large importer of these products. Poland mainly buys frozen berries in Ukraine and then resells them to other countries of the world after refinement, which allows Polish traders to remain “in the market” even despite the problem of reduced local production.
The presence of blueberries among the top 6 most imported products is also noteworthy because Poland is a major producer and exporter of these trendy berries. It is clear that local consumers have fallen in love with blueberries, and now they buy it all year round, and not only in July-October when locally grown blueberries are available on the market.
For more information: east-fruit.com