Jakarta. Poland has been trying to get its apples into Indonesia, and will likely have the maiden export next year, according to the country’s trade body.

Jacek Kolomyjec, the Jakarta bureau chief at the Polish Investment & Trade Agency, recently said that Poland had been in talks with the Indonesian Agriculture Ministry on the apple export plans. Polish apples will likely come to Indonesian shelves during Ramadan, which is slated to start in March.

“The laboratory recognition process has been completed with the Agriculture Ministry. … We are quite optimistic that the Polish apples will be on the [Indonesian] market next year … Polish apples should be on the shelves around Ramadan time,” Kolomyjec said in a recent interview with the Jakarta Globe.

Kolomyjec said that Polish apple exporters had already been in touch with some major importers in Indonesia.

Poland is seeking to export between 10 and 20 containers of Polish apples in the first year. The number is expected to grow in the following years. 

Kolomyjec added: “But it requires some time for both sides of the business process to get to know each other, and for the consumers to receive the apples. Of course, at the beginning, there might be some troubles with the small details starting from packaging to the shipping process.”

“Our focus is not to compete with Indonesian products on any matter, be it processed or fresh foods, or cosmetics. We are more looking into adding added value to the market and diversity for the Indonesian consumers,” Kolomyjec said.

Government data shows Indonesia-Poland bilateral trade amounted to $1.4 billion in 2022. Trade was in Indonesia’s favor as Jakarta exported $1.1 billion worth of goods to Poland that year. Earlier this year, visiting Wojciech Gerwel, an undersecretary of state at the Polish Foreign Ministry, told reporters that Poland was banking on agri-food exports to cut its trade deficit with Indonesia.

The National Statistics Agency (BPS) reported that Indonesia imported 749.9 million kilograms of fruits throughout last year. The fruit imports mainly came from China (479.6 million kilograms). European Commission data shows Poland’s apple production stood at approximately 4.3 million tons in 2021.

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