The overlooked Romanian market for organic produce

Opportunity: Organic food

Romanians living abroad long for the flavourful tomatoes back home - but when they come back, they often find that the produce on the market now is not as tasty as they remember. Imported and greenhouse vegetables have swamped supermarket shelves and even farmer’s market stands. While people enjoy the availability of fruits and vegetables all year long, they look forward to enjoying locally-produced tomatoes, apples and strawberries in season.

These products are ever more difficult to find in city markets. City-dwellers used to have relatives in rural villages, who would provide them with fresh produce in season. This connection is growing weaker; young professionals rarely have ‘country relatives’ with home-grown poultry, a vegetable garden and an orchard - so they are looking for an alternative they can trust. Locally-grown certified organic food can satisfy this demand.

Meanwhile, organic (or ‘ecological’) agriculture comes naturally for small farms in Romania, where the soil is not polluted with generations of chemicals. The quality of the soil allows for organic crops that give higher returns than conventional agriculture. Pre-EU-accession funds have supported early stages of organic agriculture developments, as well as created local certification schemes.

Tomorrow I’ll post some specific opportunities in marketing organic produce to Romanians.

Written by Sara

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