The season for Polish peppers recently began, with its peak falling in early August when the local vegetable is abundant. At the same time – as every year – when Polish peppers appear on store shelves, those from the Netherlands decrease in price by 50% within a few days. This alarming trend is highlighted by the Associated Producers of Peppers from Poland who emphasize that Polish producers cannot compete with such practices. They are struggling each year with diminishing profitability. The association is appealing to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Prime Minister to take steps to protect national production and is urging consumers to choose Polish peppers on store shelves.
Thanks to high temperatures and high sunlight, this year, the first deliveries of local peppers grown under cover reached the wholesale market in the first half of June. By the end of the month, red varieties had also been added to green and white ones. The peak of the season falls at the beginning of August.
“A lot of consumers in Poland declare that they would like to buy Polish products. This is true until the price decides. Sales are heavily dependent on it and we see that when prices are comparable, we all reach for the Polish product – provided it’s on the shelf. But we have some seasonality to remember. 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, demand from stores, that domestic peppers are on the shelves,” says Paweł Myziak from the Association of Pepper Producers RP, Southern Mazovia.
Peppers are one of the most popular nightshade vegetables that have a permanent place in the Polish diet. They are available essentially all year round, but Polish production only lasts a few summer and autumn months. There is strong competition on the market from imported peppers. Large quantities of this vegetable are imported to Poland mainly from Spain and the Netherlands. As the expert emphasizes, the competition is not always fair.
“If we get into such prices that are subsidised by external exporters, then this is a threat to our production because at the current costs our producers cannot compete with price dumping. We do not have the means for it, our season lasts three-four months and we cannot extend it to average the price. However, the Spanish or Dutch have a season that lasts eight-nine months, and they are able to do it. In the winter season, when pepper prices rarely fall below 14–15 PLN, they earn more, and in the summer period, our season when the pepper prices drop, they are able to softly dump prices, thereby lowering ours,” explains Paweł Myziak.
The Associated Producers of Peppers RP in a letter to KPRM and the Minister of Agriculture note that, once again, when the season starts in Poland, and peppers from Southern Mazovia appear in stores, the price of those from the Netherlands decreases by 50%. This causes local pepper producers to have increasing problems maintaining production if prices fall below its costs.
“We are at the beginning of the 2024 pepper season, so it is hard to talk about profitability now. We care about peppers being produced in Poland, so that producers can approach this production with optimism, instead of worrying each year whether it will be the last year of pepper production. We must stabilize this production if we do not want to depend on external markets. If we do not stabilize the production of peppers in Poland, but also other vegetables, we will rely on external markets, which will have no mercy and dictate such prices as they want at the moment,” says the expert from the Association of Pepper Producers RP.
Dependence on supplies from other countries is also dangerous because export restrictions may apply to them; for example, when prices spike severely or poor harvests start causing product shortages on a given market. Then importers are searching the market for other suppliers, often at a significantly higher price.
“We are aware of this as distributors and producers, that there are certain border prices above which the consumer simply will not buy goods. Then there is the so-called substitutability of products. If the field cucumber will cost 7–8 PLN on the store shelf because there is a shortage of it, consumers will not choose this cucumber, but will choose a tomato, pepper, or any other vegetable instead,” adds Paweł Myziak.
Pepper producers are requesting the Ministry of Agriculture to determine a purchase price that would cover production costs and ensure profitable production, to introduce a ban on selling agricultural products (at each stage) below their production costs, to establish a percentage representation of Polish fruits and vegetables on store shelves for each species during the Polish season (farmers believe it should be 70–80%) or to establish solutions that would make promotions dependent on farmers’ consent.
Poland is an important pepper producer and a significant player in the European market. This vegetable is cultivated in the country on an area of over 2.5 thousand hectares, mainly under covers. The largest centers of pepper cultivation are around Radom, in Southern Mazovia, but it is also cultivated e.g., in Lublin region and Malopolska. According to FAO data in 2022, domestic crops of peppers reached nearly 380,000 tons. Its producers – just like in other agricultural sectors – are struggling with a progressive decline in the profitability of crops. The production of peppers under covers, in plastic tunnels, is associated with quite considerable costs, which especially in recent years have drastically increased. Last year the association created a Protest-Strike Committee, which was a form of protest against the policies of large retail chains leading to a significant price drop of peppers on the market.
“Last year, after declaring strike readiness, the price drop was halted. First of all, it was a positive effect of the publicity, consumers moved and started buying local peppers. Secondly, the peppers began to be exported because if the prices drop too much, external markets immediately open for our product. The chains also rose to the challenge, for they often promoted peppers, thus paying more for them than selling,” the expert recalls. “Average prices last year, taking the entire volume of peppers from July to the end of October, both standard and premium, came out at 5 PLN, so it was a price that guaranteed profitability last year.”
