Bulgaria's ongoing meat shortage is fueling Bulgaria demand for imports, a U.S. Agriculture Department aide stationed in Sofia said.
The following report, dated August, describes the situation:
Bulgaria's demand for imported meat continues to increase due to the shortage of domestic meat. As reported in the press and by contacts in the trade, Bulgaria currently has another "crisis" situation which could last well into the next year.
The "crisis" is mainly due to the current low level of livestock inventories because of distress slaughtering last year. The exports of live animals last year and the export of meat some months ago have also been blamed by the press for the current shortage.
According to our contacts and the press not only are the larger state farms running out of meat (pork) to sell but in some regions of the country, farms are completely "empty" of pigs and no pork is available for processing. This has caused work stoppages in several meat processing factories (especially small to medium-sized firms). Because of the shortage, the few large producers who have meat are able to sell at "whatever the market will bear".
Currently, the wholesale price of pork is approximately US$2.30-3.20 and the retail price, US$3.60-US$4.40. Generally, beef is hard to find in retail stores as most consumers are used to buying pork products for home use. Beef is generally eaten at restaurants. However, as an indication of how high prices have reached here, office staff recently purchased 100% ground beef for 3.16/lb (US$6.95/kg). Minced meat which is a combination of pork and beef is sold wholesale at US$2.00-US$3.00/kg and retails at US$3.00-US$4.00/kg. Market Opportunities Bulgaria will need to import pork, poultry, and beef in the foreseeable future. The poultry and pork sectors do offer more opportunities than beef because of the GOB hormone ban on beef. The AgOffice staff have met with several meat processors who would like to import from the United States. Our contacts are aware of the quality and competitive selling prices of U.S. suppliers. One of the key problems is credit and terms of payment. According to some contacts, the import duties for meat products (reduced July 1, 1997) should not constrain trade, however, that is only because prices are currently higher than normal. Bulgarian firms are willing to work together to consolidate their orders to purchase a high enough volume to obtain a better price. U.S. firms who are able to find creative ways of doing business should be able to find excellent marketing opportunities in Bulgaria at the present time. For more information on tariff rates and other import requirements (see BU7027) or contact: Agricultural Office, Sofia
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