We choose regional products more often

Bryndza Podhalańska, St. Martin's croissants or Grójec apples - such regional products are beginning to conquer customer tastes. More and more often we look for such products not only during holidays, but also on shop shelves.

- Consumer awareness is growing year by year. We are more and more interested in such products, we look for them even though they are seasonal - says Dorota Kubuj, coordinator of the Three Marks of Taste campaign and adds. - We expect that such products will also be on the shelf in shops, we look for them in restaurants.

The essence of the "Three Marks of Taste" programme aimed at the Polish market was to inform about the Community system for the protection of regional and traditional products, as well as to promote food products labelled in this system. On 9 November 2016, by means of internet users' voting, Grójeckie PGI apples were chosen the product of the year of the Three Marks of Taste.

- Our Polish products find more and more customers because the mentality of Poles is changing. More and more attention is being paid to the so-called economic patriotism,' says Adam Pajewski, a board member of the Grójec Orchards Association. - Polish products have improved in terms of quality, promotion, taste and aroma. Poles appreciate Polish products.

Grójeckie apples have been entered in the EU register as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). This designation may be used only for premium-quality apples (Extra and I) meeting specific requirements as regards colouring, size and firmness of flesh, and farms producing 'jabłka grójeckie' are obliged to comply with the principles of Integrated Production (IP) or the GLOBALGAP food safety standard.

The 'jabłka grójeckie' brand refers to 40 varieties originating from the Grójec region, called the largest orchard in Europe. The unique taste of 'jabłka grójeckie' is determined by their characteristic acidity (5% higher on average than apples of the same variety from other regions) and their very pronounced blush, which is the result of a higher content of pigments under the skin (mainly anthocyanins and carotenoids).

Jabłka grójeckie owe their exceptional qualities to the soil and climatic conditions in the Grójec area, where there is a particular microclimate characterised by low night-time temperatures during the period before picking. In these conditions, apple tree plantations were established near Grójec as long as 500 years ago, when Poland was ruled by Sigismund I the Old and his wife, Bona. Over the centuries that followed, the apples were served to kings and noblemen and became an enduring gift to successive generations. Today they are considered the national treasure of Poles.

- We observe interest among our customers in Polish products in general. Lidl Polska generates over 70 percent of its turnover on products from Polish producers. Therefore, both in the range of vegetables and fruit, as well as among other products, products from Poland are leading," adds Aleksandra Robaszkiewicz, PR Manager at Lidl Polska.