Exports of Polish wine are on the up with products gaining popularity in such diverse countries as China, Nigeria and the United States.
According to data collected by the state-backed Foundation of Assistance Programmes for Agriculture (FAPA), while exports of wine, fortified wine and mead were worth 10 million euro in 2009, in the first half of 2013 alone sales exceeded 11 million euro.
Poland’s Vinpol firm, whose products include mulled wine and a range of sparkling wines, now exports to over twenty countries around the world, and the company expects a 15 percent increase in sales this year in comparison with 2012.
Fruit wines are also proving to be a bankable hit, with Polish firm Bartex-Bartol’s exports in this field up by 20 percent this year. “Sales of vodka have had a big influence on the popularity of Polish wine products,” said Grzegorz Salbut, export manager of Bartex-Bartol in an interview with the Rzeczpospolita daily.
According to Salbut, Poland’s most famed alcoholic drink has allowed companies “to open up and penetrate new markets.” Janton, another Polish firm specialising in fruit wines, now sells a fifth of its production abroad, with bottles of its fruit wine ending up on tables in Japan, Germany and Switzerland.
Compared with Hungary, which is firmly established as a producer of wines made from grapes, Poland is still something of a newcomer. However, the industry has been growing in south east Poland since the mid-1980s. Most of the 150 or so grape vineyards are located near the towns of Jaslo and Krosno.
Source: Polish Radio - nh
http://www.thenews.pl/1/12/Artykul/155523,Polish-wine-exports-on-the-up