Polish food products are known worldwide for their high quality, unique taste and reasonable price. Polish agriculture, largely based on family farms, combines tradition with modernity. In Poland, farms use only low levels of mineral fertilizers and plant protection products, so the natural environment and landscape are not adversely affected. At the same time, Polish food industry is equipped with state-of-the-art machine park. Many Polish companies and factories had to be upgraded before the Polish accession to the European Union and, in effect, nowadays many of them are more modern and better equipped than those in the Western Europe.
In 2015, the greatest propotion the Chinese market was the export of milk products (33 % of Polish exports to China), sweets, chocolate and other food products containing cocoa (21 %), meat and meat products, including edible poultry offal (20 %), as well as sugar syrups (13 %). Other Polish products exported to China are: grain-milled products, nuts, beer, fresh and processed fruits and vegetables including juices.
Polish pork was notably popular among Chinese consumers, but due to the cases of ASF disease in Poland, in 2014 imports were stopped. Poland now holds discussions with the Chinese administration, which would enable Poland to resume exports of Polish pork from the regions free of risk of the disease.
Another Polish product which will soon may gain its share in theexports to China is apple. Polish horticulture is known for a wide diversity of apple varieties. Apples are the product that Poland exports in the largest amounts. They are followed by pears, raspberries, strawberries, sour cherries and sweet cherries, as regards the export volumes among domestically grown fruits.
Poland has a long tradition in the production of cold meats and other meat products. Polish pork, beef, poultry and food products based on these meats can be distinguished mainly due to their high quality and unique culinary properties. Polish meat producers have been applying the "from farm to table" principle, which guarantees full transparency of the origin of the product and the whole production process. Thanks to strict EU requirements, Polish meat is also free from antibiotics and growth hormones. In order toensure health safety of meat and its products, Polish system has implemented meat quality systems such as:
— Pork Quality System (PQS) - system for the production of low-fat pork, in accordance with the parameter important for the consumers and meat quality; — Food Quality Guaranteed System and System (QAFP) -covers all links in the pork, poultry and cold meats' production chain;
— Quality Meat Program (QMP) - is a set of rules specifying the entire production process of beef, starting from the indication of the best cattle breeds and ending with the methodes of packaging and labeling the product. Polish dairy industry uses the world’s top-level technology, Polish dairy products successfully compete with products from other countries not only due to their nutritional value, but also to attractive appearance, functionality of the packaging, as well as their's taste and prices. Due to natural conditions and a long-lasting tradition of cattle breeding, Poland is predestined to develop milk production. Small concentration of herds makes it possible to use pastures which, apart from natural fodder, provide for animal welfare without harming the environment. The application of the EU hygiene and veterinary standards to the process of milk acquisition, storage and transportation resulted in improved milk quality, and the restructuring of milk production contributed to the increase of production for trade purposes.
Polish companies produce food in accordance with the strict EU standards and offer high quality products. In addition to products manufactured on a large scale in large plants, there are many small and medium-sized family businesses that offer products with unique taste, manufactured according to old recipes, typical for each region.
