More and More B Grade Imported Food Floods Croatian Shelves

Last year imported food from a total of 125 countries made its way onto Croatian supermarket shelves, with marmalade the only product where exports exceeded imports…

Most food which makes it way on to the tables of homes in Croatia is not local produce, but imported from abroad. The concerning trend of imported second class food at supermarkets across the country has continued in the first quarter of 2014. From January to March this year 686 million USD worth of food was imported into Croatia, whilst only 378 million USD worth of food products was exported. It seems that there is no strategy in place for this trend to reverse, as Croatian markets and shops are flooded with second class products from abroad.

“I think it is a big mistake, that we have enough people and uncultivated land,” one market stall owner told daily news dnvenik, adding that imported fruit and vegetables are cheaper, but of a lesser quality.

“Everything that applies to our food being exported should be applied to food that is imported,”says Mijo Latin from the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture, saying that on average locals consumed around 30 kilograms of imported vegetables and 43.5 kilograms of imported fruit last year.

In 2013 Croats ate 1,800 tonnes of mainly Chinese garlic, 5,320 tonnes of frozen chickens from Brazil, and a massive 29,000 tonnes of imported potatoes. A shame for a country with plenty of agricultural land.