Sborník 2009 díl 2. - Fakulta informatiky a managementu - Univerzita ...

Iwona Szczepaniak EVALUATION OF THE COMPETITIVENESS OF POLISH FOOD PRODUCERS
AFTER THE ACCESSION TO THE EUROPEAN UNION
bacco products. At the same time a significant increase of the share of exports in sales
was visible. In the future, this may result in moving these groups to the more competitive
group of branches. The food industry branches that are not export-oriented are
following: production of fresh bread, noodles and cereal products, wine and brewing
sectors, as well as production of cakes and non-alcoholic drinks. But also this group
showed the increasing orientation to the export. If that tendency is going to remain,
these branches will also be able to move to the more competitive groups.
The increase of the share of exports in the sales of individual food industry branches
directly influenced the development of orientation of export and competitiveness of
entire food industry. The share of exports in the sales of the entire industry increase by
more than 8 percentage points in the 2003-2008 period (from 13.7% to 21.9%), and in
2008 it will probably increase by further 0.6 p.p. This means more than twofold increase
of the indicator of the food industry exports orientation.
Diagram 2 Share of export in the production sold by the food industry in %
25
20
15
10
5
0
10,5
10,4
11,2
13,7
16,5
18,8
21,5
21,9
22,5
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008a
a estimate based on the data from 8 months of 2008.
Source: Urban R. (red.), Wpływ integracji z Unią Europejską na polską gospodarkę żywnościową [The
influence of the integration with the EU on Polish food economy], Raport nr 90, seria Program Wieloletni
2005-2009, IERiGŻ-PIB, Warszawa 2008, p. 86.
The increase of export orientation of particular food industry branches and strengthening
the position of our producers on the enlarged European market in the first period of Poland’s
presence in the European Community proved that Polish food producers were
well-prepared to the EU membership and that they have been functioning very well on
this difficult market. The constant improvement of the situation of Polish food producers
on the EU market would not be possible, however, if Polish foods were not
simply good and relatively inexpensive – i.e. if they weren’t of high quality, if they
would not guarantee health safety and good taste, at the same time being affordable.
Their growing sales in the foreign markets indicate that the consumers throughout the
EU have accepted our offer. The prices of basic agricultural products are one of the decisive
factors, as regards the competitiveness of Polish food producers in the foreign
markets. In the 2004-2007 periods, the prices of all products taken into account, with
exception of eggs intended for human consumption, were lower than the prices in the
EU. The prices of cereals, pork and milk were lower then the EU average by 5%-10%.
Polish producers of beef, fowl and piglets were achieving about 20% difference. Polish
producers of basic agricultural products were achieving lower prices as compared to
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