From 12 to 14 September, Ukrainian food producers took part in the business forum “Poland-Ukraine”. The Ukrainian Food Export Board and the Ukrainian Business Association in Poland were the organizers of the Ukrainian food trade mission to Poland.
President of the Ukrainian Business Association in Poland, Managing Partner of ILC EUCON Yaroslav Romanchuk moderated the first panel discussion “Trade and economic relations between Ukraine and the Republic of Poland: history, realities and prospects“. Yaroslav focused on practical aspects of export of goods and services to the Republic of Poland and the EU, and noted that the event was a convenient platform for establishing trade and economic relations between these two countries.
Igor Yatsenko, Head of the Warsaw office of ILC EUCON, opened the first session of the forum “Retail and economic relations between Ukraine and Poland: realities and perspectives” and stressed that Ukrainian businesses must take into account the consumer preferences and the peculiarities of the market they enter, as it can greatly differ from their national market.
This year the Ukrainian products were represented by the following companies: Malbi Foods (TM Millennium), Petrus-Confectioner, Galicia Distillery, Impak (TM Ovochysta), Mineraliz, Milkiland, MHP, Ternopil dairy factory (TM Molokiya), SPS (TM Prypravka).
During the three-day work, representatives of the companies met with retail chains, importers and distributors and started negotiations with them regarding the supply of Ukrainian products to the Polish market. The forum was attended by such Polish importers as Sweets United, ExportPlan, Intellect Management, UkrGoods, TransSer and others (25 companies in total). According to the participants of the forum, the taste benefits of the Ukrainian products can be very profitable on the European market.
Chairman of the Ukrainian Food Export Board Bohdan Shapoval believes that Ukrainian products have a great export capability in Europe.
Bohdan Shapoval, Chairman of the Ukrainian Food Export Board: “The Polish market is very conservative and hard to enter because of its high demands and standards. However, it should be noted, that if a company manages to collaborate with such trading network as, for instance, Auchan Polska, it will receive the status and loyalty not only on the Polish market, but on the EU market as well.
This trip can be definitely called successful, as the companies not only took their first steps in communication with representatives of the Polish business, but most importantly they started to understand how the Polish market works. They got an understanding of the products needed, their quality, packaging and other terms.
Today Ukraine is well-represented in Poland by confectionery companies. Such Ukrainian companies as “Millennium” and “Roshen” who also joined the event have their own offices in Poland. Ukrainian horilka, groceries, cereals and some types of grains are also represented on the Polish market. One of the aims of the forum was to introduce the Ukrainian dairy products and some other added-value products to the Polish market. I’m sure Poland is interested in Ukraine as its trade partner, and today, thanks to its favourable geographic location, Poland can become the “bridge” through which the Ukrainian goods will enter the European market”.
