"The canning industry in Bulgaria may be nearing its end. Soon, pickles from India, roasted peppers from Macedonia, compotes from Greece and jams from Egypt will be on store shelves".
The warning is from Stoyko Kirovski - chairman of the Union of Fruit and Vegetable Processors.
He noted to the Bulgarian National Radio that their business depends on raw materials, labor and markets.
The markets for us were strongest when we exported significant quantities of canned food to Russia, he recalled, specifying that at that time the production of canned food in our country was nearly 900 thousand tons per year. Now, however, it is 6 times less - to about 150 thousand tons. Based on this low decline, we began to produce less and less, Kirovski explained in the program "Above All".
"Europe has 3 times more population than Russia, but the image of Bulgarian goods in Europe is very low. Europeans don't like us very much. We work with Europe, but with their brands. Nobody wants our brands there. We raise the image of European brands, but nobody knows us. We don't have the strength to promote ourselves as an industry in Europe. The state can help us with this," Stoyko Kirovski urged and pointed out that the quality of Bulgarian goods is very high.
He also noted the decline in fruit and vegetable production.
In his words, the Bulgarian market is extremely closed:
"Over 70% of the market is in the hands of retail chains, which put a lot of pressure on us on prices. We work with minimal profits of 3 to 5%. We, in turn, put pressure on fruit and vegetable producers and they are starting to give up one by one. Our industry has been forgotten by the state".
We import a lot of raw materials from all over the world, Kirovski pointed out. However, according to him, this contradicts the logic of normal business. "If we don't have local raw materials and local workers to produce it, the business is slowly dying", he warned, adding his opinion:
"The state must decide whether our sector is a priority or not. If it is a priority, they must find a way to support agricultural producers".
About 2,000 people are employed in our industry, Kirovski estimated, noting that these are the companies participating in their industry organization.