With the optimism generated in the summer months by some better pricing for the local produce, things were looking a bit rosier for a change.
Stalker though spotted a piece of pricing news that confirms that the threats facing local growers hasn’t gone away, you know.
This excerpt from the Freshinfo.com, dated the 28th of September, indicates that the penetration of Polish produce continues unabated.
"During the two-day EurepGAP conference held in Prague last week, focus was on the progress that eastern European members of the EU are making towards building exports. So far, progress looks somewhat slow, but still the crops are getting through. Only this week, Tesco was offering 750g of Polish cup mushrooms for £1.18 in its value range.
For the record, the equivalent price for their English counterpart was £1.65. Presentation has rapidly become a major factor in tempting customers, although I sometimes feel the colourful representations that are part of the label sometimes belie the contents. In fact, some products could still use a good makeover.."
How is the local produce to compete with the Polish on price when the differential is so huge.
Quality has got to be one of the main arenas of competitiveness and also perhaps with the greening of awareness about the ‘food miles’ issue there may be a glimmer of hope in trying to stem the Eastern European mushroom influx.
