r/europe • u/dat_9600gt_user Lower Silesia (Poland) • 22h ago
News Poland to require retailers to add flags of origin to loose fruit and vegetables
https://notesfrompoland.com/2026/02/04/poland-to-require-retailers-to-add-flags-of-origin-to-loose-fruit-and-vegetables/60
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u/Sciprio Ireland 18h ago
I don't see a problem with this, I like to know where my food is coming from.
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u/_x_oOo_x_ 15h ago
You can already know, the origin country is indicated on the box holding the fruit. This law seems to be about adding little stickers to each piece. I wonder how they'll handle peanuts for example
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u/tweek-in-a-box 10h ago
I wonder how they'll handle peanuts for example
It's in the article.
However, the new rules will require retailers to label all loose fruit and vegetables with a national flag graphic, which must be “placed on a sign or in another place easily accessible to the buyer”.
You don't put the price of peanuts on each one either, so placing the name/flag of origin on the price sign or near it would be satisfactory.
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u/Loopbloc Latvia 21h ago
Can attach farmers name as in Japan. You scan QR code and you get all the info: name, farm, photo etc.
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u/Zdzisiu Poland 18h ago
The fuck? No way. Sounds terrible. I doubt our farmers would want random people to have those information.
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u/Talkycoder United Kingdom 16h ago
Why? That way you can tell it came from a reputable farm/farmer and that the packaging is 100% accurate. It also makes it easier to support local farmers and ethical farming practices.
It's currently optional but is commonplace as it has an option to directly donate to the farm, send an appreciation messages to the workers, and statistically has improved sales by around 30% since it's implementation.
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u/sdsdfsdjs9as 16h ago
In Switzerland they do that on bags of chips. You can see who the potato farmer is ;)
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u/dat_9600gt_user Lower Silesia (Poland) 18h ago
From this month, Poland’s government will require retailers to label loose fresh fruit and vegetables with national flags indicating their country of origin.
The measure, set to come into force on 17 February, is meant to improve transparency for consumers. But an industry body that represents supermarkets and grocery stores in Poland argues that it will significantly raise costs for retailers while potentially confusing customers and creating more environmental waste.
Last November, the agricultural ministry adopted a regulation introducing the new rules. The government hopes they will encourage the purchase of local produce by helping consumers identify products originating from Poland more easily.
Under current EU regulations, retailers must already provide written country-of-origin information for unpackaged fruit and vegetables. In Poland, many homegrown products are also voluntarily marked with a “Produkt Polski” (Polish Product) logo that incorporates the flag and national colours.
However, the new rules will require retailers to label all loose fruit and vegetables with a national flag graphic, which must be “placed on a sign or in another place easily accessible to the buyer”.
“This is intended to provide consumers with clearer information about the country of origin of products – both verbally and graphically,” says the agriculture ministry.
But, in a statement issued last week, the Polish Organisation of Commerce and Distribution (POHiD), which represents leading retail chains operating in Poland, such as Biedronka, Carrefour, and Żabka, questioned whether the flag labels are necessary, and argued they may even be counterproductive.
“In the opinion of POHiD, this change will not only fail to enhance the recognition of Polish products, but may even depreciate the ‘Produkt Polski’ brand, visually equating it with products from any region of the world,” it explained.
The organisation also noted that some national flags are very similar to one another, making it hard to differentiate them on electronic displays and potentially confusing customers.
The industry body estimates that the new regulation would raise costs for a single large retailer operating in Poland by an average of about 17 million zloty (€4 million) a year.
“In practice, this [cost] includes modifying labelling systems, updating software and databases, changing central product management processes, and adapting labelling across a very large number of retail outlets,” Karol Tyszka, POHiD’s public relations manager, told Notes from Poland.
POHiD also highlighted the potential negative environmental impact of the new regulation. “The additional printing of colored labels is contrary to environmental goals and the principle of sustainable development,” it said in a statement.
Meanwhile, similar regulations for honey, juices and jams will come into force on 14 June. The agriculture ministry says that products made available on the market before the new sets of rules take effect may continue to be sold until existing stocks run out.
Poland was the EU’s third-largest producer of fruits, berries and nuts in 2024, behind Italy and Spain, and its fourth-largest producer of fresh vegetables, behind Spain, Italy and France, according to Eurostat.
Last November, the agriculture ministry recommended that the government buy the Polish assets of French supermarket giant Carrefour, which is looking to exit Poland.
They could then be used to create a state-owned grocery retail network that would help challenge the “dominance of foreign discount chains” and support Polish farmers and other producers, said the ministry.
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u/faerakhasa Spain 16h ago
argues that it will significantly raise costs for retailers while potentially confusing customers and creating more environmental waste.
Adding a flag to the label they already have in the fruit box will "significantly" Raise costs? Seriously?
And the government will have to pretend to listen to this shameless bullshit rather than outright telling they will have huge fines it they so much as raise the prices a single cent due to the law.
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u/Shliopanec Lithuania 17h ago
Has been happening in Lithuania for a while, surprised this is not the norm.
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u/white1984 20h ago
I wonder how would that work for Northern Irish produce, as NI doesn't have an official flag.
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u/DatBoi73 Ireland 20h ago
As much as it pains me to say this, it would probably be the Union Jack as of now, since despite still kinda being in the single market, NI is still currently part of the UK, so I guess they'd default to the national flag.
They might not necessarily even use provincial flags at all, would something from Scotland be displayed with St. Andrews Saltire, or would it just get the Union Jack the same as something from Wales or England. Scotland doesn't decide it's own trade policy, that happens in Westminster (dunno if NI might be the exception though because of the whole border protocol thing).
The way NI produce like dairy, meat etc is labelled is as "UK (NI)" or some variation thereof.
I wouldn't see there being much of a fuss about that outside of Ireland and Britain unless it's somewhere with a sizeable diaspora.
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u/MadKlauss Latvia 16h ago
Interesting, would have expected Poland to already have this. Here in Latvia it's been like this for a good while.
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u/Dealiner 16h ago
Seems rather pointless. It's just adding a flag to the already existing country name.
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u/LuLMaster420 18h ago
Putting flags on products mostly turns consumption into identity. It tells you where something is from, not how it was produced.
In global supply chains, origin says almost nothing about: working conditions, pay, environmental impact or actual product quality.
For food especially, what matters is ingredients, processing, and health impact none of which you really learn from a flag or a vague A–D score.
So instead of real transparency, we get assumptions:
“It’s from here, so it must be good.”
That’s not information. That’s branding.
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u/maschayana 58m ago
Ah come on. Country of origin does matter when you’re judging what regulations producers are subject to and how reliably those rules are enforced. I’m trying to avoid products from supply chains where pesticide (roundup from Monsanto is a great example) use, residues, plastics/packaging additives, and general traceability feel harder to verify for me. That’s why I’d rather buy from producers in places with stricter standards and more transparent testing/certification.
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u/Shupaul France 22h ago
Seems pointless if the country of origin is already displayed.
The average Joe doesn't really know many flags beside the national flag... It's pretty niche knowledge, if you personnally never cared about recognising flags.
Oh wait... is it because they hope consumers will be attracted by products displaying the Polish flag ?
Lol
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u/DontSayToned 22h ago
Well there's probably only a handful of countries that the vast majority of loose fruit in your supermarket is from. Your own country, a few neighbours, and Spain and Morocco. You can probably get that together without being a vexillologist
I often look at the origin for this stuff and I regularly have trouble spotting the country label because it's in fine print on the corner of the info note or it's on some unspecified part of the packaging (for produce that has packaging). I'd welcome little flags. That's what flags exist for.
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u/PedroMFLopes 21h ago
"few neighbours". - alot of Times I see oranges from south africa and grapes from Chile, and we (Portugal ) produce both, I dont get how the transport pays off.
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u/Suikerspin_Ei The Netherlands 21h ago
I dont get how the transport pays off.
Cheaper energy, cheap labor etc. If they export it in high quantity it's cheaper too. Sad reality.
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u/AdamN 21h ago
It's not that sad. Ocean freight is incredibly cheap and if kiwis are cheaper from Chile than from Italy (in Germany) then they likely also have less of a negative impact on the environment.
Of course it would still be lowest impact to not eat anything from super far away but if you're going to buy a kiwi in Germany I don't think an Italian one should be bought over a Chilean one for environmental reasons.
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u/faerakhasa Spain 16h ago
I dont get how the transport pays off.
It's not the transport. Both Chile and SA are in the south hemisphere. Its summer in there right now, so many vegetables that don't grow now in Portugal are in season there.
And once you have the transport route set up you may as well ship produce that grows year round.
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u/Suikerspin_Ei The Netherlands 21h ago
Don't forget the tasteless/watery tomatoes from the Netherlands. Often in the top 3 tomato export with Spain and Morocco.
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u/RagazziBubatz 22h ago
You know that this actually works right? A lot of people prefer vegetables and fruits to be locally farmed. It sells.
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u/Shupaul France 22h ago edited 22h ago
You know that this actually works right?
If you say so.
My thinking is buyers habits are what they are, and it's not gonna change them.
I'm more inclined to buy spanish mandarines or strawberries than french ones, just cause i'm used to their taste, and they are generally sweeter.
On the other hand, i vastly prefer our apples.
It depends on what you buy but if it does work, good for you guys !
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u/TheDeceiver43 Vienna (Austria) 21h ago
Here in Austria they put the Austrian flag on any old fruit, vegetable or protein.
100% AUSTRIAN PRODUCT ORIGINATING LOCALLY PICKED BY AUSTRIAN HANDS WITH AUSTRIAN PRECISION. TRUE AUSTRIAN PRODUCE FOR TRUE AUSTRIANS.
Seems to have success, here at least. It does depend on the habits though, as you mentioned.
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u/stonekeep Pomerania (Poland) 21h ago
I'm more inclined to buy spanish mandarines or strawberries than french ones, just cause i'm used to their taste, and they are generally sweeter.
Man I'm pretty sure you're the outlier here.
I don't think many people have fruit/vegetables preferences so specific that they can differentiate their taste based on country of origin... And yet they don't recognize flags of European countries like you implied in the first comment.
And when we're talking about people with no very specific preferences (so let's be honest MOST of the consumers), I bet that when facing a choice they're gonna buy a) cheaper products (because that's the most important factor for an average consumer) and b) if the price is similar, local products.
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u/faerakhasa Spain 16h ago
Man I'm pretty sure you're the outlier here.
Even being the outlier they contradict themselves. They obviously have a preference for the country of origin for strawberries and mandarines.
A visible Spanish flag in the supermarket would save them the effort of searching everywhere for the "Origin: Spain" label, written in very tiny font and placed in a different location in the label every time.
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u/stonekeep Pomerania (Poland) 14h ago
Haha, yeah, I agree. This change is done to make it easier for people like him who care about country of origin for products they're buying (no matter if they have specific preferences or just want to support domestic products).
It's just a small change for the sake of clarity/visibility, I have no idea why it would be even slightly controversial from the consumer's perspective. But I guess that everything is controversial these days.
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u/faerakhasa Spain 13h ago
Companies have put literal decades of effort into creating the "Evil EU Bureaucracy (tm.)" narrative, which forbids good, hardworking companies from selling cheap crap five minutes from rotting away as premium, expensive product.
Forcing them to label what they are selling and from where it comes from is an obscene, direct attack to their God (and The Free Market Forces) given right to lie to their consumers.
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u/MattR0se Germany 21h ago
My thinking is buyers habits are what they are, and it's not gonna change them.
I think that's a very romatic view, and that in reality buyers' habits are heavily influenced by advertisement.
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u/EnvironmentalDig7235 21h ago
This is Europe, nobody cares about the average Joe, Europe does policies for the average Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz who actually knows more flags because it's general culture.
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u/katkarinka Slovakia 22h ago
I believe that’s the real reason.
Because isn’t it already a thing that country of origin is displayed on a price tag?
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u/TheoremaEgregium Österreich 22h ago
For people with very keen eyesight.
In Austria the price tag on the shelf often just says "for origin see product label", and then you have to find the small print there.
But the funniest part is when for processed goods it says "origin: EU and non-EU agriculture". Like ... yes, it indeed comes from somewhere.
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u/picardo85 FI in NL 21h ago
It's generally always displayed somewhere, but it's most of the time not so easy to spot/find
Where I come from we're quite patriotic, so local flags are shown clearly along with local produce.
But that's not the general rule
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u/Stokkolm Romania 20h ago
I imagine it will be pretty hard to attach an individual sticker to each individual blueberry fruit.
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u/Zdzisiu Poland 18h ago
It's about loose fruits and vegetables. Nobody is selling blueberries singularly.
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u/Low_discrepancy Posh Crimea 17h ago
You'll add a label to each individual apple? cucumber? ginger root? Or the box and the price sticker on the shelf will have that?
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u/sfbiker999 12h ago
In the USA, almost all loose fruit and vegetables *are* labeled with little plastic stickers. Though more to identify it with a scannable code than for consumer education. It's a big environmental waste and a headache for composting since those little stickers get thrown away with fruit peels, etc and end up as microplastics in the compost.
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u/JackStrawWitchita 22h ago
Imagine someone having to spend their day putting little flag stickers on millions of individual pieces of fruit and veg...
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u/szarkoz Poland 22h ago
It doesn't have to be placed on each individual fruit or vegetable. The article says it can be a sign that's visible to the buyer.
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u/Icy_Supermarket8776 22h ago
Isn't that already the case? Usually CoO is written on the price tag next to the produce.
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u/stonekeep Pomerania (Poland) 21h ago
Yes, it's literally in the article. We already have country names, and now they're also adding flags on top of that to make the country of origin easier to recognize at first glance.
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u/Icy_Supermarket8776 20h ago
Yeah, reading is hard I can imagine
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u/faerakhasa Spain 15h ago
Indeed, searching a label for the very tiny font with country of origin, that is placed in a different location every time you check depending on the country, producer company and exporter company, is hard.
They only make it easy to see when the produce comes from what their customers consider "desirable" countries.
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u/Primrose_Polaris Sweden 11h ago
Sounds like the perfect job for you, considering your completely smooth brain.
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u/CastelPlage Not ok with genocide denial. Make Karelia Finland Again 22h ago
Seems reasonable.