– Undoubtedly, the fruit and vegetable sector is our national pride, and Polish apples are a brand recognised all over the world. During the 22 years of Poland’s presence in the European Union, apples became a synonym for export success of the entire Polish agri-food industry and as a symbol of our Presidency of the EU Council, they accompanied all last year’s events organised under the Presidency. It was Grójec apples that we were offering the representatives of the Member States, who were enchanted by their smell and taste – said Minister Stefan Krajewski during the opening ceremony of the stand in Berlin.

The Fruit Logistica International Fruit and Vegetables Fair in Berlin is the largest and most important event of the fruit and vegetable industry, gathering both producers, processors and representatives of other branches cooperating with fruit growers (distributors of machinery and equipment for modern fruit-growing enterprises, creators of new technologies, suppliers of innovative services). The fair is accompanied by conferences, workshops and discussion forums dedicated to current issues and directions of development of the industry, in the field of fruit and vegetables cultivation, methods of their storage, transport and effective placement on new and competitive outlet markets.

– At the Berlin Fair, we have a strong position of a leader because I would like to remind you that Poland is the 3rd largest producer of fruit and the 4th largest producer of vegetables in Europe. If we analyse those rankings only in terms of the production of apples, in Europe we are the undisputed number one, and in the world we are ranked 4th, after China, Turkey and the USA. So we have a lot of successes and experiences that we can boast of here – said the Minister.

Let us remind; in recent years, the production of fruit in Poland has remained at the level of 4-5 million tonnes per year. Nearly 30% of apple output is exported to the EU countries and third countries: Egypt, Kazakhstan, India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. According to forecasts, in the 2025/26 season, the export of apples may increase from about 723.8 thousand tonnes to about 800 thousand tonnes, at the same time, as a result of the fall in the export prices, the revenues from the export of apples will decrease from about EUR 484.5 to 450 million.

 

The vegetable output in Poland exceeds 5 million tonnes every year. The crop structure is dominated by cabbage, onions and carrots but the mushroom output is also growing systematically. Nearly 50% of the national vegetable output goes to the processing industry (frozen foods, tomato products and canned vegetables).

For 17 years, the organiser of the Polish national stand at the Fruit Logistica Fair in Berlin has been the Polish Fruit Growers Association from Grójec. It is worth remembering that Grójec apples have been entered in the EU register as a Protected Geographical Indication since 2011.