Viennese vittles
Though best known for its ski slopes and musical heritage, food is a big business in Austria and it forms a pillar of the country's exports. In Austria, as many as 1,210 food factories, with 58,000 workers working in 30 different sectors of the food market, produced EUR 10 (zł.36) billion worth of goods in 2006 - the last year for which data is available. The total value of food exports that year reached over EUR 6.5 (zł.23.7) billion.
Austrian food producers are now targeting CEE markets, including Poland, with key products like dairy, meat, wine and sweets, and high-quality, natural production processes as their main competitive advantages.
New lands
While Austria's major export partners have traditionally included Germany, Italy and Switzerland, interest in Austrian food producers is increasing in the CEE region, especially since 2004, when eight Central European countries joined the EU. Austria's exports of milk products to Poland - excluding cheese - increased by 100 percent in 2005 compared with the previous year, according to data from the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber.
For Austrian food firms, Poland may seem like a difficult market due to the high quality and good reputation of domestic food products, many of which have gone on to conquer other EU markets. Yet many Austrian producers are optimistic, since they target niche markets.
Some companies are counting on the growing taste for healthy foods across the region, for example. Mona, a company which has launched a line of soy products in Poland, is one of these.
"The main advantages [that our company has] are the growing popularity of soy products, their high quality and handy packaging," Patricia Tupy, sales manager for exports at Mona told WBJ.
Bigger wallets, better food
The growth of the premium foods sector, driven by Polish society's growing affluence, is another incentive for Austrian companies to enter the market. Tichy, a producer of venison, lamb and duck meat, wants to enter Poland, targeting premium shops' shelves rather than those of regular supermarkets. "I am currently searching for business partners," Hermann Tichy, the owner of the company, told WBJ.
A number of interested companies are small and family operated, however, with little experience in exporting their products. Anton Gober, the owner of a 5.6-ha winery in Austria is one. "I have come to Poland above all to observe the market," he explained. Nevertheless, the fact that these small firms are investigating opportunities in the Polish market speaks volumes about the potential they see here.
When it comes to Austrian wine, specifically, other producers admitted that it is a connoisseur product in Poland, due to its relatively high price and strong competition from wines from other countries. But these firms do get a chance to promote their products in Poland at a showcase of Austrian wineries organized by Weinmarketingservice and the Austrian Embassy each year in Warsaw.
Expansion plans
Companies that already operate in the Polish market successfully, such as confectioner Josef Manner, are considering expanding their sales.
"We are present in the southern part of Poland currently, and we are looking for partners to enter northern regions," said the company's international area manager, Christian Neureiter.
Competition from Polish products remains strong, however. Moreover, since Austrian firms are addressing niche markets and relying on high-quality goods, they are more susceptible to the effects of economic downturns. The potential for profit is matched by the risk, therefore these firms need to acquaint themselves intimately with the local market before jumping in headfirst.
