Foodservice closure across Europe is impacting Polish poultry sector
Poland, the largest poultry producer in the EU, is facing a drop in sales as the coronavirus outbreak is closing some of the most valuable channels across Europe. In a statement for EuroMeat News, Jan Wolf, Deputy Director at SuperDrob, offers a clear picture of the impact expected by the Polish poultry industry.
"Restrictions in the movement of people, closing the borders of Poland first, and recently the entire European Union, caused an increase in demand for food on the domestic market.
Therefore, producers direct increased volume of their production to the domestic market than to export. Export to the third countries decreased not only due to coronavirus outbreak, but earlier due to the outbreak of avian influenza in Poland at the end of 2019. Sales to EU markets are showing some slowdown so far.
We've noticed a decrease in demand for food products in some channels and a potentiality increase in the others. We were sending a lot of products to the gastronomy in e.g. France but unfortunately, the restaurants in France and Italy are being closed ( as well as in some other countries) so demand has dropped down. On the other hand, we notice a growing demand in British retail and in some other countries. Consumption habits have changed from eating out to preparing meals at home. Admittedly, there is a market for home meals delivery but it will not change the whole trend, only can mitigate it," says Mr. Wolf.
Additional effects are to be seen soon as the workforce available is constantly decreasing and the impact of the outbreak on the company's personnel can not be controlled, despite all the additional safety and sanitary procedures.
"In addition, we monitor the employee market. The borders are closed. Free movement of potential foreign workers is strictly limited. Today we have turned to the Polish government with specific recommendations for our industry. Our company, as well as all our industry, bear high costs of additional safety and sanitary procedures which were implemented immediately once coronavirus has occurred in Poland. Safety and keeping the highest standards are our priority. Moreover, we conduct a lot of new activities to respond to B2B partners and customers inquiries. Our office staff has shifted to home office system, many security procedures were implemented as well. Current, unusual situation connected with coronavirus outbreak on such a massive scale, gives us an opportunity to practice new competencies and procedures to minimalize potential danger.
And last but not least, we do not forget about the elderly and poor people. We have donated two tonnes of our products for charity recently but such actions are carried out regularly, not only due to coronavirus outbreak," added Jan Wolf.
However, at some point, the Polish food industry can replace some of the products that are blocked in Italy or Spain due to lockdown procedures and restrictions for the people in that area.
"There are many countries in Europe that must import food. I am talking here not only about the Czech Republic or Slovakia, but also about Great Britain or Belgium. There are maneuver possibilities. It is also worth adding that the German food sector is highly dependent on our products and raw materials. Our western neighbor is the largest importer of our agri-food goods. That is why Germany will want their food sector not to break down. We can even expect intervention purchases from other EU countries. However, this does not apply to every food production sector", explained explains Andrzej Gantner, General Director of the Polish Federation of Food Producers, in an interview for PortalSpozywczy.pl.
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