Croacia: Croatian potato growers unable to compete with imports

Croatian farmers must set aside 40 percent more money for seed, fertilizers and other costs involved in potato growing and they cannot compete with prices abroad, says Damir Mesarić, potato producer from Belica, a village in Međimurje with the biggest production of potatoes in Croatia.

Potatoes still have the status of a “socialist food” and are constantly on sale. One retailer chain lowers the price, the next week another one does the same and so on.

“With 1.30 kuna, we can only cover the costs, without making any profit”, explains Mesarić, who is also the president of the Međimurje Association of Manufacturers of Mercantile Potatoes. Members of his association complain of low purchase prices offered by buyers. They are also ready for protests and are asking the government to propose a law on a fair trade practice similar to the one that Hungary has adopted.

Under pressure from supermarket chains and imports from Egypt, Cyprus, Tunisia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as discounts at the shopping malls, in mid-July the purchase price already dropped to 1.80 kuna and continued to decline. One retailer is already offering potatoes to its customers for 1.99 kuna, which means that they are getting it from producers for only 90 lipa. Some producers are keeping the potatoes in cold storages until the next spring hoping that the price will go up, but it is unlikely that this will help.

Source: Total Croatia News