Competitive advantages of Polish organic sector in light of co-existance between GMO and non-GM products

Maciejczak, Mariusz

Keywords: organic agriculture, competitive advantage, coexistance, GMO

The perfect segregation of the different agricultural production types, namely conventional, organic or based on genetically modified organisms is not possible in practice. But the side by side functioning of this systems in agricultural production and further on of the products on the shelves requires suitable measures during cultivation, harvest, transport, storage, and processing to ensure co-existence. Consumers, food and feed industry, as well as wholesalers and retailers in European Union, including Polish ones demand a reasonable degree of choice between GMO and non-GMO derived products. Accordingly the ability to maintain different agricultural production and processing systems is a prerequisite for providing a high degree of consumer choice. As the organic production grows in Poland and on other hand there is observed increase of the GMO importance in food and feed chains the rivalry between organic and GMO sector rises and the competition between products coming from this sectors is increasing on the market too. What are then, the advantages of organic sector that qualifies them over GMO competitors and might constitute as a basis for the competitive strategy? This is the perception of organic products by the consumers, which is much favorable comparing to GMO. Then the developing organic sector increases the availability of organic products and forces the competition to provide products meeting consumers requirements. Finally low capital requirements, subsidies and opportunities for market increase gives organic sector in Poland an unique advantage to expand not only domestically but also abroad. A key factor in the competitive strategy of the organic sector should be therefore the broad information about the advantages of organic nutrition. The advertising and sale forces, which are elements of the communication with the consumers, would be appreciable contributors to organic sector’s development, and accordingly threat to GMO products. In this context the co-existance brings the biggest results to the economic and market issues, placing the consumer attitude as a key factor for development of the market competitive advantages, especially for organic sector in Poland.