Deluge of foreign apples puts Czech farmers under pressure

Czech farmers brought their complaints to the capital on Tuesday, protesting outside a shopping mall in Prague's Smichov district. They were campaigning for the protection of Czech food products in the face of foreign imports. Rosie Johnston was there.

The protest of Czech farmers, photo: CTK

The Czech union of farmers chose the apple as a symbol of their plight. At the protest on Tuesday, they got onlookers to compete at throwing apples into a big yellow dustbin - their prize should they succeed: a hefty bag of apples to take home. The stunt showed that Czech apples will, and might as well, end up in the bin if nobody is going to eat them. Last year the Czech Republic imported 460 million crowns' worth of foreign apples, while exports only amounted to 85 million crowns. One farmer at the protest tells me the problems that he and his colleagues face:

"We are under continuous pressure thanks to the very cheap imports from all over the EU, but especially from Poland. I think this is because of the lower cost of labour in Poland but also thanks to their lack of custom barriers."

A lady at the protest tells me that she buys Czech products whenever it is possible. This is a view shared by many of the passers-by I spoke to. But often the difficulty lies in identifying whether a product is Czech or not. Jaroslav Camplik is head of the association of grocers:

The protest of Czech farmers, photo: CTK

"Consumers tell me that they don't know who has made a certain product, and that they would like to. My response is that right now, unfortunately, the name of the distributor, or the supermarket it has been made for, is all that is needed on the packaging. Czech manufacturers are not labelling things properly. On the other hand, all of the major grocery chains are really trying to promote their brands. I know that it is very difficult to find out who made anything. But rather than just advertising brands, I think what we need to do is get some marketing agency to work on a campaign which encourages consumers to look for the producer on the label."

A protesting man says that he is unhappy to hear Czech apples are selling badly. He says that Czechs should be proud of their produce and that the apple he is munching on is delicious. But Tuesday's protest was perhaps too localised to reach most consumers. Maybe a national marketing campaign is just what's needed to get to the core of consumer apathy.