István Nagy: the food industry and trade play a national security role

By: Trademagazin Date: 2023. 11. 07. 12:41

In the current, challenging period, the Hungarian food and processing industry and trade have not only become a strategic sector, but also play a national security role, said Minister of Agriculture István Nagy at the 19th European Trade Day event in Budapest on Tuesday.

He explained: the pandemic, the war, the energy crisis have highlighted how vulnerable global commercial supply chains really are. Therefore, it became necessary to reconsider, transform, and develop a new strategy for the entire sales chain. Sustainability and the reduction of environmental and ecological effects are playing an increasingly important role, while consumer habits are changing, he said.

The change is most noticeable in the food industry, sustainability is one of the most important aspects when buying food, but at the same time consumers are still price sensitive.

He emphasized: the misconception that foreign imported goods will remain cheap in the long term must be dispelled. They will only remain as long as they drain the surplus and until domestic competition ceases, he pointed out.

According to István Nagy, in addition to the reliability and quality of Hungarian goods, sustainability aspects and short supply chains are also in favor of domestically produced products, and distributors should also give preference to these.