Buying Hungarian products strengthens the Hungarian economy, protects Hungarian jobs and guarantees a living for thousands of Hungarian families, the Minister of Agriculture stated in Lajosmizse in connection with the launch of the website termeloikosar.hu.

Visiting a family farm growing strawberries, István Nagy stressed that those who buy Hungarian products buy safety and an “excellent gastronomic experience”.

According to the Minister of Agriculture, on our way out of the coronavirus epidemic, we may come to the conclusion that Hungarian agriculture and agricultural producers have stood their ground. Despite the difficulties, we have managed to ensure that products and customers find one another, he added.

According to the Minister of Agriculture, recently agriculture has become “shock-proof”, having withstood the intensive demand for products, having withstood the temporary closure of borders and equally having withstood the temporary shortage of seasonal workers. Despite these difficulties, production continued with intensive efforts, but smoothly. This, however, also required the measures adopted by the government, he said.

Among these he mentioned the possibility created for persons who lost their jobs in the services and trade sectors to find employment in agriculture and the food industry, replacing missing seasonal workers.

It was also necessary to find new ways to customers instead of markets and food stores: this is why they created a new online retail platform launched a few days ago under the title Producers’ Basket, he said.

According to Mr Nagy, virtual trade and the existence and role of virtual markets will also survive beyond the epidemic as people have learnt how to use them, and they offer a convenient option for providing all households with fresh Hungarian fruit and vegetables.

The Minister of Agriculture stressed that the domestic economy must be protected, however, and buyers can do that best. In shops, customers decide which products they take off the shelves, and it is the duty of the Hungarian government to make sure that customers make conscious decisions about favouring Hungarian products, he said. This process is promoted by the introduction of the trade mark “Foodstuff of Excellent Quality” or the use of small flags at meat counters indicating the origins of meat products, he listed.

Government Spokesperson Alexandra Szentkirályi said the stable operation of agriculture and the food industry has always been a key issue for the Hungarian government. To this end, they have done a great deal so that Hungarians can access local products as easily as possible. She recalled that in 2012 the government had called producers’ markets to life, of which there were now 300 throughout the country, and thanks to which people could buy fresh seasonal Hungarian products of the highest quality directly from producers.

The Government Spokesperson highlighted that as a next phase the situation caused by the state of danger called to life the website Producers’ Basket which was launched just a few days ago. On the online market, customers can choose from among the products of a virtual market. They can inspect the products they are about to purchase, find information about the seller, and with a few clicks of the mouse it is possible to buy products from different parts of the country.

On the website termeloikosar.hu more than 200 producers offer almost 600 products to customers. After registration, producers themselves can upload into the system their products offered for sale.

Regarding the family farm, Tamás Fekete said they have grown strawberries for 30 years; in an area of 60 to 70 hectares they grow strawberries. While due to the late frost this year the quantity of their produce is lower than usual, at this time demand appears to be higher than last year. The strawberry season started at the end of April-beginning of May, and as seventy per cent of strawberries are already ripe, there is a week and a half left until the end of the season. They grow strawberries almost entirely for the Hungarian market, and for some time they have also offered home delivery services. They registered for termeloikosar.hu at the time of its launch.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)