Agricultural news week 2

In our newsletter this week read about positive statistics on food export and pandemic help in Poland where florists are included. You can also read about new initiative of Biedronka retail chain in Poland. Connected with waste segregation. Enjoy your reading!

mix of varous vegetables in a bowl
Beeld: ©A.Murawska

Poland's food exports up 7% after 10 months of 2020

Poland's agricultural and food exports increased by 7 percent year on year after the first ten months of 2020 to EUR 28.3 billion, according to a national agriculture support centre.

At the same time, Poland's agricultural and food imports increased by 5 percent year on year to EUR 18.5 billion, the National Support Centre for Agriculture (KOWR) reported on Tuesday. As a result, Poland's foreign trade surplus for the agriculture sector after the first ten months of 2020 rose by 11 percent year on year to EUR 9.8 billion, KWOR wrote.

Most Polish food products were exported to EU countries, with their value amounting to EUR 22.7 billion or 80 percent of the total. Germany topped the list of Polish food importers (EUR 7.1 billion, up by 11 percent year on year). It was followed by Great Britain (EUR 2.5 billion), the Netherlands (EUR 1.6 billion), France and Italy (EUR 1.5 billion each).

Source: PAP

poster showing new labelling of own Biedronka products
Beeld: ©Biedronka

Biedronka starts segragACTION

Biedronka, the largest retail chain in Poland, introduces segregation pictograms on the packaging of its own brand products. The packages are marked with an appropriate marking indicating the color of the waste container to which their individual elements should go. This is a step to encourage customers to segregate waste and facilitate their care for the environment.

The chain has prepared over 600 projects for private label products of various categories bearing such markings. Thanks to the pictograms, network customers can easily check which container the packaging should go to. Moreover, when its individual parts are made up of different materials, consumers will find more than one indication on the packaging to indicate which container to put it in.

The key to reuse of packaging is proper segregation, which is the first step to recycling. It is extremely important whether the packaging by the product goes to the right fraction. Incorrect segregation prevents the effective recovery of the raw material or significantly worsens its quality. Every day, therefore, each customer chooses whether a plastic yoghurt cup or a glass bottle will gain a new life or end up in a landfill, where they will spend the next several hundred years.

Biedronka stores are visited by over 4 million customers every day.

Source: Biedronka

witte rozen in een vaas
Beeld: ©Murawska

Florists added to the financial support

On the 5th of January Polish Parliament extended the list of companies which can apply for financial support due to the pandemic. Therefore also floristry shops are covered in the financial shield. The applying company must record a sales decrease of at least 30% in the periods between April till December 2020 compared to similar period in 2019 or from October till December 2020 also in comparison to the same period in 2019. The support is calculated based on the amount of employees (self-empoyed florists cannot apply for this support) and cannot exceed the 70% of the losses or the amount of 72 000PLN (for small companies). Florists can apply as from 15 of January 2021.

LAN-WAR: own report AM