In recent years, Morocco has significantly increased its presence in the Polish greenhouse tomato market, becoming a true trendsetter, reports EastFruit. Over the past three years, the annual direct import of tomatoes from Morocco to Poland has ranged between 30,000 and 36,000 tons. In the first half of this year alone, Moroccan tomatoes reached a record presence in the Polish market.
Last year, the direct import of greenhouse tomatoes from Morocco to Poland was approximately 30,000 tons, slightly lower than in 2021-2022 due to weather issues, but still double the volume of 2019. This year, thanks to the recovery of Morocco’s greenhouse industry, Moroccan exporters have already sold a record 22,000 tons of tomatoes directly to Poland from January to June. Considering that a significant portion of Moroccan products is traded through Spain, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, their actual presence in the Polish market has grown even more substantially.
Despite the development of domestic greenhouse vegetable production, Poland became the eighth largest importer of greenhouse tomatoes in the world in 2023. In Europe, only Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, and the Netherlands import more tomatoes than Poland. The volume of imports by Polish companies in 2023 reached a record 216,000 tons. In the first half of this year, import growth accelerated, with Poland purchasing a record 152,000 tons of greenhouse tomatoes from foreign markets, 15% more than in January-June 2023. Overall, over the past five years, total tomato imports in Poland have increased by a third.
The vast majority of greenhouse tomatoes in Poland (92-95%, depending on the year) are supplied by companies from just five countries: the Netherlands, Turkey, Spain, Morocco, and Germany. Turkey became a key supplier only in 2023 due to weather problems in Spain and Morocco, which caused a significant price drop during the peak of its supplies. However, Turkish suppliers could not completely replace Spanish and Moroccan products, as Turkey mainly supplied red round tomatoes.
Read also: Morocco dominates early 2024 with historic fruit and vegetable exports to Germany
Morocco, while present in Poland with red round tomatoes and plum tomatoes, primarily focuses on various cherry types. According to Polish importers, Morocco has already become a true trendsetter in the cherry tomato segment in Poland, offering a variety of standard round cherry tomatoes, cherry plum tomatoes, cherry datterini tomatoes, cherry mixes, cherries on the vine, and more. Moreover, Polish buyers from the HoReCa sector mainly adhere to the standards set by Moroccan suppliers in this segment.
We remind suppliers of tomatoes and other products interested in Poland and generally Eastern Europe to join the online training “Navigating the Eastern European fresh produce market. Opportunities for Egypt and Morocco” on October 1. Additionally, they can participate in the trade mission of Egyptian and Moroccan exporters to Warsaw in November. Details of the trade mission will be published later, so stay tuned for updates on the website www.east-fruit.com.
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