Illustrative stock photo (source: SME)
Only 40.18 percent of food products on the shelves of Slovak stores were of the Slovak origin last year, according to the Slovak Agricultural and Food Chamber (SPPK).
"The share of Slovak food products in stores has not been satisfactory for years," said SPPK deputy head Marián Šolty, as quoted by the TASR newswire, adding that the figure is rising very slowly.
For example, Slovak food products comprised 38.87 percent of all food products in stores back in 2014.
"Slovakia is one of the countries where domestic agro-food production on the shelves of stores is crushed by foreign goods," Šolty said, as quoted by TASR.
Vegetables are the least Slovak
SKKP focused on the most important food commodities, such as milk, meat, vegetables, fruit, and sugar, in its 2018 survey, as reported by TASR.
74 percent of eggs and 69 percent of honey put on the shelves of Slovak stores last year were Slovak, while 68 percent of milk sold in stores was Slovak.
"Overall, these three commodities have, in the long run, the highest representation on the shelves of retail chains in Slovakia," said Šolty, as quoted by TASR.
On the contrary, the share of Slovak vegetables in the shops was the lowest, amounting to only 21 percent last year. It was followed by Slovak meat (24 percent), fruit and vegetable juices, and fresh fruit (26 percent each).
The findings have proven that only one-third of fresh fruit from Slovakia can be found in the shops, while most of it is imported, SPPK said.
COOP Jednota has the highest share of Slovak products
SPPK collected the data in 54 stores, including those run by Tesco, Lidl, COOP Jednota, Kaufland, Terno, Billa, CBA and Metro.
"There is still an extremely low share of agro-food products made in Slovakia that can be found on the shelves of retail chains operating in the country," said Šolty, as quoted by TASR.
Company COOP Jednota has offered the highest number of Slovak food products for years, 61 percent in 2018. By contrast, Lidl placed only 16 percent of Slovak food products in its stores last year, according to the SPPK findings.
People in the Nitra Region enjoy the highest share of Slovak food products at 46 percent. On the other hand, customers in the Košice Region found only 32 percent of Slovak food products in stores, as reported by TASR.
