Romania imports food due to lack of planning, not resources

Agricultural country, flooded by food imports

Costinas believes that there is an irony hard to ignore in Romania's economic landscape. One of the most fertile countries in Europe imports most of the food it consumes. Retail shelves show a paradox: processed meat from the West, dairy products from Central Europe, sweets and canned goods from everywhere but Romania. And this is happening in a country with fertile land, agricultural tradition, and an increasing number of consumers looking for local products.

Agri-food production below potential

In recent years, the economy has grown rapidly. GDP has risen spectacularly, and wages have increased by over 260%. In contrast, total industrial production has grown by only 118%, and domestic agri-food production has remained below its potential. The difference has been filled by imports. This imbalance is clearly visible in the total trade deficit which has reached now over €35 billion. Unfortunately, the agri-food industry contributes significantly to this gap. In just a decade, the agri-food trade deficit has increased more than sevenfold to €3 billion at the moment. The largest deficits are in meat and meat products (-€1.2 billion), dairy products (-€700 million), and confectionery and chocolate (-€600 million). Romania imports even canned vegetables and other products which could be produced domestically, with local resources.

Investments are a must

According to Costinas, the trade deficit is in many ways more dangerous than the budget deficit (the latter making the headlines at the moment in Romania, due to its very high level). The budget deficit can be adjusted through fiscal policies and spending cuts. The trade deficit cannot. The imbalance between imports and exports requires years of investment and domestic production capable of pushing imports back and generating exports. This is not a quick fix, but a national project.

Meanwhile, Poland, a similar country, has experienced exactly the opposite. It has gone from a trade surplus of €1.4 billion to a €7 billion surplus. It has become Europe's third largest exporter of chocolate, without producing a single gram of cocoa. They invested in processing, attracted multinationals, and built brands.

The deficit is actually a map of opportunities!

Romania has land, resources, people, but it also has an economy that exports raw grains and imports processed products with high added value. In 2023, Romania exported wheat worth over €1 billion, but imported biscuits worth €130 million, canned vegetables worth €56 million, and instant soups worth €52 million. While Romania supplies raw materials to the European market, retail shelves are dominated by end-products from Poland, Germany, or Italy. These figures are not just statistics. They are signs of an economy that is losing its value chains.

The agri-food ecosystem is fragmented: undersized processors, unavailable packaging, poor logistics, and a lack of a coherent strategy. Even when the product exists, demand is there, and interest is validated, an ever-growing barrier arises: the lack of capital for growth. This bottleneck is noticeable in categories such as artisanal dairy products, canned vegetables, and traditional Romanian products that are in demand by consumers and listed in retail chains but cannot be delivered on a large scale due to a lack of production capacity and financing for expansion. Banks are reluctant, public programs are slow, and existing mechanisms are not calibrated to the real needs of the food sector.

Learning from the Polish experience

Poland's success is no miracle. It is a strategy, believes Costinas. They have invested in processing, distribution networks, and branding. They have encouraged retail-producer partnerships and created modern infrastructure. Romania is still waiting for “the market to regulate itself”. “But the market does not build slaughterhouses, collection centres, or packaging capacity on its own. It does not provide credit for industrial risk. It does not connect farmers with processors on its own. Without a clear vision and coordination between key players, producers, retailers, authorities, and financiers, Romania will continue to play the role of an outlet market”, continues Costinas.

How to start?

The expert’s opinion is that Romania does not need a food revolution. It needs a plan. “A plan that starts with real demand and works backwards to production. Not the other way around. A plan that brings authorities, producers, retailers, and financiers to the same table. To identify where the chain breaks: why don't we have Romanian pickles on a large scale? Where are the jars, the logistics? What ingredients are missing? What can we process domestically? Then we need infrastructure. Public or supported by partnerships. Collection centres, locally produced packaging, storage space, cold storage, processing lines. We cannot build an industry without basics. And, above all, we need financing for growth. Not just grants for ideas or start-ups. But capital to help validated businesses grow. Mechanisms that understand agri-food risk: seasonality, working capital, complex logistics”.

Conclusions

“Romania does not lack resources. It lacks coordination, strategic investment, and institutional will. We have demand. We have supply. We have examples. We just need to want to put the pieces together”. Interestingly he points out: "there is no greater opportunity than a market that consumes more than it produces. The deficit is ultimately a map of what we can build".

More information

The “Romanian Product” working group within Agrinnovator is a think tank supported by the Romanian Farmers' Club, which aims to facilitate access for Romanian agri-food products to large retail chains and to create a sustainable framework for collaboration between farmers, processors, and traders.