The carrot season in the North of Poland is coming out ahead compared to the rest of the country. The drought and heat in May made the season difficult, but as the North of Poland is close to the sea, these growers didn't feel the impact of the drought as much.
According to Michal Gulczynski of GpoiW Polfarm, the carrot season has been very demanding so far. The drought in May meant growers had to take extra care of the produce. “The drought was felt by multiple countries in Europe, and it's the same for Poland. We were quite lucky though, as we grow carrots in the northern region of Poland. Since we're close to the sea, there is a lot more humidity and the heat wasn't as extreme as in the centre of Poland. No disrespect to my competitors in Poland, but it's resulted in better quality carrots.”
Another reason the carrots of GpoiW Polfarm are doing well is due to their investments in the irrigation system. “It was only last season we started investing more in managing the water for the carrots. By investing in a solid irrigation system, we're prepared for a lack of water, or even when there's too much water! We think investing in infrastructure is the best thing we can do right now.”
The harvesting of the carrots is currently ongoing, about 20 per cent of the carrot harvest is destined for export, Gulczynski says. “We grow carrots on about 400 hectares. 80 per cent is sold in the domestic market, but 20 per cent is exported. This comes down to about 7000 tons this season. We deliver our carrots to supermarkets directly, with some pretty big names in there. Our main export markets are Slovakia, Lithuania, Romania and Germany. However we've also sent smaller shipments to Spain, Scotland and Scandinavia. The Nordic countries have great potential for us, as it's very close by to Poland. However, Scandinavia does have some pretty tight demands regarding food safety.”
At the moment, Polfarm is also making sure they can keep up with food safety regulations in the rest of Europe. “We do our production in a conventional way, but that doesn't mean we can't make grow carrots in a sustainable way. We ensure we grow vegetables without any residues and have a gold-level in the ASAP certification. Supermarkets are getting more demanding about removing residues from the equation while growing any produce, so we have to innovate.”
They innovate by using OZON-technology, which uses O3. “After the washing and peeling is done, we spray the produce with the O3, to get rid of any bacteria or pests. The great thing about this is that it's 100 percent natural. We also use a hydro cooler while shipping the produce out, which enabled us to send a shipment from Poland to Dubai by sea container. The trip took 30 days, but the customer was very satisfied with the result. We're the only company in Poland that uses this system!” Gulczynski concludes.
For more information:
Michal Gulczynski
GpoiW Polfarm
Tel: +48 604 444 503
Email: M.gulczynski@polfarm.com
www.polfarm.eu