The growth in demand for items such as petfood and mineral water in Poland and Hungary are a good illustration of growing consumerism in central and eastern European countries, a seminar for food and drink exporters has been told.
Dr Rudolf Bretschneider of Fessle Gfk, Austria, told the exporters that these were two of the fastest-growing product groups in those countries.
He said the demand for cat food in Hungary had grown by 19 per cent in the year 1997-1998 and demand for mineral water had grown by 38 per cent.
The growth market for catfood in Poland had grown by 46 per cent in the same period and for mineral water, by 54 per cent. The demand for mineral water in the Czech Republic had grown by 17 per cent.
He warned exporters that there had been a growth in consumer patriotism in these countries when they had discovered after the collapse of the old system that not everything from the West was better than home produce.
This would have to be overcome by potential exporters who would be selling into a region which was price-driven and difficult to handle because of the significant language and cultural diversity.
Such demand indicated a growing economy with potential markets opening up. There was a demand for quality food and many of the countries, especially the Czech Republic, were developing a "green" consciousness which would be good for Irish exporters.
Mr Peter Mc Sweeney, international markets, Bord Bia, said the region had a combined population of 106 million people. If Poland and Hungary joined the EU in 2004 as expected, half of these people would be EU citizens within 166 weeks.
Irish companies, he said, had exported £45 million worth of goods to the region last year, mainly drink, ice cream, fish, biscuits, crisps and food ingredients.
It was also interesting to note that all the central and eastern European countries, except Hungary, were net importers of agrifood imports from the EU.
Farmers must be allowed to amalgamate holdings and to form working partnerships to counteract the growing labour shortage and to meet competition, a conference was told during the week.
Mr Matt O'Keeffe, chairman of the Farm Apprenticeship Board, told the seminar that establishment of workable farm partnerships in Ireland would go a long way towards sustaining the viability of farms.
Other options such as joint ventures could also create opportunities for young people to enter farming and proposals to allow this were being drawn up. These would allow a young qualified manager of a farm produce milk on his or her own milk quota on the farm of employment.