Tomato prices have doubled in Poland, Turkish imports are flooding the market

The wholesale price of cartoned spherical tomatoes from domestic greenhouses is currently between PLN 6.5–8.5/kg (610–797 HUF/kg), while a month earlier it was still around PLN 3–4/kg (282–376 HUF/kg). This is not unusual at this stage of the season, but this year’s price increase is particularly spectacular because it started from an extremely low price level.

According to FruitVeb data, prices by the end of October exceeded the average of the past five years by 29 percent. The price increase is primarily due to unfavorable weather and a decrease in production volumes. Due to the decline in domestic supply, imports are playing an increasingly important role, especially as winter approaches.

More and more tomatoes are arriving on the Polish market from Turkey, where greenhouse cultivation allows for a longer season. Turkish goods typically arrive at a price of PLN 5/kg (approx. HUF 469/kg), i.e. they are much cheaper than domestic products. According to experts, imports are expected to continue to increase in the coming weeks, while Polish production is gradually decreasing.

The market balance is influenced not only by the weather, but also by transport costs, logistics capacities and European demand. More and more tomatoes, primarily of Turkish origin, may appear on Hungarian markets as the Polish commodity base narrows and autumn-winter tomato prices are rewritten as a result of imports.