Brexit continues to cause difficulties for trade, not just for the British, but also for countries who do a lot of trade with the UK, such as Poland.
"We have noticed a drop in our orders this month, but we expect this to change in the beginning of December to become a very busy period for mushrooms, which is always the case, just before Christmas. In general, trade volumes have been lower after Brexit, because of the fluctuating exchange rate, which has forced us to increase our prices. We have been doing our best to keep them stable at the moment for our customers, but it is a big challenge when our retailers require a consistent price with an inconsistent currency," said Joanna Leszko from Grzybmar.
Sterling is down around 13% against the euro, and around 17% against the PLN, compared to before the EU Referendum of June 2016.
"Despite the difficulties with the currency, we are happy that we are able to continue to collaborate well with our British customers during these difficult times," shared Joanna.
Grzybmar's main export destinations are the UK, followed by France, but Joanna said that they have also sent shipments to Greece, Spain and Asian countries such as Singapore.
"We are always looking for new markets. We are active in the French market, but this is a tough one to really penetrate because of French politics which support products of French origin over anything else. We have also tried to send some shipments to Singapore, but we need to find a logistics solutions before we enter that market further. Once the transport costs were added to the prices of the mushrooms, they became way too expensive. We are speaking to forwarders about ways to help remedy this issue, and once we come up with a solution, we would also like to look into the Middle Eastern market."
