The growing number of Polish citizens with increased disposable income means the nation is rediscovering its love of lamb, and low domestic production could be capitalised upon by international producers.
This is what Marek Schejbal, senior consultant at the Polish-British Chamber of Commerce, said at an export conference organised by UK levy board AHDB on 29 June. As a result of the rise in demand, Poland now has to import a large volume of lamb to keep pace with rising consumption.
Poland enjoyed a compound annual growth rate of 18.2% over seven years between 2008 and 2014. This came at a time when the rest of Europe was struggling with economic hardship against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis. This injected impetus into the lamb sector with consumers eager to diversify meat consumption.
Embracing meat trends
The number of sushi bars in Warsaw is indicative of changing food trends, he said. Poles consume less than 2.5kg of fresh fish per year, but Warsaw, with a population of 1.7m, boasts more than 200 sushi bar. This highlights that “the Polish market is open to new tastes and trends,” Schejbal said.
New Zealand is the largest lamb exporter to Poland, followed by the UK and Ireland in second and third place respectively. Value imports of lamb in Poland have increased by 55% year-on-year, with the UK share jumping from 6.5% to 19%.
This is because lamb production has dropped significantly from historically high levels in the 20th century. The Podhala region, south Poland, used to be the country’s largest producer, rearing 5m lambs in the 1980s. This has dropped to around 50,000 today, with most of the lamb exported to Italy.
Schejbal, who has helped around 70 UK companies tap into Poland’s appetite for meat, is developing the appetite for lamb and helping boost the UK’s presence in the growing market.