Why this is important to Wisconsin businesses: Innovative packaging solutions are needed to serve the food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics sectors for both domestic consumption and processing for export.
Poland’s economy is currently one of the most dynamic economies in the European Union, with projected GDP growth of 3.6 to 3.8 percent for 2018. Drivers of this trend are private consumption and corporate investments in the processing sector, the information and communications industry, and real estate. In the long term, further investments are needed to ensure the competitiveness of Poland’s industry and increase productivity.
Not only does the domestic Polish market buy food and beverage products, but the country also fosters exports – especially to other EU countries. In the first three quarters of 2017, investments in the food industry increased by 5.2 percent, up to €1.2 billion. The largest subsector is meat processing, 80 percent of whose production is exported. Packaging for these products is also in demand. Polish consumers tend to favor convenience products, and international companies are increasingly focusing on this market, such as Virtu, which established a production plant in Zawiercie, Poland. Besides food and beverage, the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors are heavily investing in new production plants due to increased demand for over-the-counter medications and skin care products. Domestic manufacturers are well positioned in the cosmetics market and are planning investments worth €70 million in the coming years in order to serve foreign markets. The need for packaging applies to not only export products but imported products modified and packaged in logistics centers. For this reason, the German tea trading company Teekanne recently established a production and warehouse facility at the logistics center 7R Logistic Krakow-Kokotow in Krakow.
In 2017, Wisconsin exported goods worth $192 million to Poland. Plastic product exports were worth $5 million in 2017 and $541,000 in just the first month of 2018. As industries that rely on packaging expand, packaging itself offers strong opportunities. As there is more demand for eco-friendly solutions, biodegradable packaging solutions are especially promising. The expansion of production plants offers opportunities for packaging machinery, as Poland cannot supply the needed demand.
Attending trade shows can provide excellent opportunities to get to know the market and meet potential partners. One such opportunity is Packaging Innovations (http://packaginginnovations.pl/pl/), taking place April 17-18 in Krakow. Also consider Plastpol Kielce (http://targikielce.pl/), held from May 22-25, and Taropak (http://www.taropak.pl/en/), scheduled for Oct. 4-5. Further information on the industry and current trends is available in the online magazine Packaging Polska (http://www.packaging-polska.pl/).