- The Pepper Producers Association appeals to the Ministry of Agriculture and consumers to choose domestic vegetables when shopping.
- This year, just like in other crops, the growing season has sped up, and we were able to enjoy the availability of Polish peppers earlier.
- Domestic consumers declare that they would like to buy a Polish product. However, the final choice is often determined by the price.
- Once again, at the start of the season in Poland, when peppers from Southern Masovia appear in stores, peppers from the Netherlands become 50% cheaper. This means that domestic pepper producers have more and more problems maintaining production if prices fall below their costs.
The key selection factor – purchase price
– Currently, many consumers in Poland declare that they would like to buy a Polish product. This is true until price decides. Sales are highly dependent on it and we see that when prices are comparable, we all reach for a Polish product – provided it is on the shelf. And we must remember that we have a certain seasonality. Polish peppers are available from about mid-June to the end of November, when our season ends. So then we should choose and look for, and require stores to have domestic peppers on the shelves, says Paweł Myziak from the Association of Paprika Producers of the Republic of Poland, Southern Mazovia, to the Newseria Biznes agency.
Strong competition from imported peppers
There is strong competition on the market from imported peppers. Large amounts of this vegetable are imported to Poland, mainly from Spain and the Netherlands. As the expert emphasizes, it is not always fair competition.
– If we enter prices that are, for example, subsidized by external exporters, then it is a threat to our production, because at the current costs our producers are not able to compete with price dumping. We don't have the funds for this, our season lasts three or four months and we cannot extend it to average the price. However, the Spanish and Dutch have a season that lasts eight to nine months and they are able to do it. In the winter season, when pepper prices rarely drop below PLN 14-15, they earn more, and in the summer, i.e. our season, when peppers become cheaper, they are able to slightly dump prices, which lowers ours – explains Paweł Myziak.
Peppers from the Netherlands 50% cheaper.
As the Association of Paprika Producers of the Republic of Poland emphasizes in a letter to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture, once again, at the start of the season in Poland, when peppers from Southern Masovia appear in stores, peppers from the Netherlands become 50% cheaper. This means that domestic pepper producers have more and more problems maintaining production if prices fall below their costs.
– We are at the beginning of the 2024 pepper season, so it is difficult to talk about profitability today. We want peppers to be produced in Poland, so that producers can approach this production with optimism, instead of worrying every year whether this will be the last year of pepper production. We need to stabilize this production if we do not want to become dependent on external markets. If we do not stabilize the production of peppers in Poland, but also of other vegetables, we will be doomed to external markets, which will have no mercy and will dictate the prices they want at a given moment – says an expert from the Association of Paprika Producers of the Republic of Poland.
Dependence on supplies from other countries is also dangerous because export restrictions may apply to them, for example when prices in a given market go up significantly or due to poor harvests, there is a shortage of the product. Then importers look for other suppliers on the market, often at a much higher price.
– As distributors and producers, we are aware that there are certain limit prices above which the consumer simply will not buy goods. Then the so-called product substitutability occurs. If a field cucumber costs PLN 7-8 on the store shelf because it is scarce, consumers will not choose this cucumber, but will choose tomatoes, peppers or other vegetables instead – adds Paweł Myziak.
Pepper producers request the Ministry of Agriculture, among others, for determining the purchase price that would cover production costs and ensure profitability of production, introducing a ban on the sale of agricultural products (at each stage) below their production costs, establishing for each species in the Polish season a percentage of Polish fruit and vegetables on store shelves (according to farmers, be 70-80 percent) or establishing solutions that make promotions dependent on farmers' consent.
Poland is an important producer of peppers and a major player on the European market
This vegetable is grown in the country on an area of over 2.5 thousand square meters. ha, mainly under cover. The largest pepper cultivation area is around Radom, in the south of Masovia, but it is also grown, among others, in: in the Lublin region and Małopolska. According to FAO data, in 2022 the national pepper harvest reached almost 380,000. t. Its producers – similarly to other agricultural sectors – are struggling with a progressive decline in the profitability of crops. The production of peppers under cover in foil tunnels is associated with quite high costs, which have increased dramatically, especially in recent years. Last year, the association created the Protest and Strike Committee, which was a form of protest against the policies of large retail chains leading to a significant drop in pepper prices on the market.
– Last year, after the strike emergency was announced, the price decline was stopped. Firstly, it was a positive publicity effect, the consumer moved and started buying domestic peppers. Secondly, peppers began to be exported, because if prices drop too much, external markets immediately begin to open for our product. The chains also rose to the challenge because they often held promotions for peppers, thus paying more for them than they sold – reminds the expert. – Average prices for last year, taking into account the entire volume of peppers from July to the end of October, both standard and premium, were PLN 5, so it was a price that guaranteed profitability last year.
