Sales channels of raw food and food products from organic farms in Siedlce region

Celem pracy było przedstawienie kanałów dystrybucji produktów wytwarzanych w gospodarstwach ekologicznych regionu siedleckiego. Przedstawiono opinie właścicieli 60 gospodarstw ekologicznych poło- żonych w regionie siedleckim na temat kanałów dystrybucji wytwarzanych przez nich surowców i produktów żywnościowych. Badania prowadzono w pierwszym kwartale 2014 roku. Respondenci wskazywali, że mimo zachodzących pozytywnych zmian na rynku, nadal mają trudności ze sprzedażą swojej produkcji. Dużym problemem jest konieczność sprzedaży wytwarzanej produkcji jako konwencjonalnej.In the recent years increasing number of organic farms have been recorded in Poland. This also refers to the analyzed region of Siedlce, which due to the environment, share of protected areas and lack of large industrial plants, is in favour of the development of organic production. The results of the study show that increasing the number as well as the size of these farms is not correlated with the development of the market for organic products. This situation affects most organic producers who do not sell their products on the basis of agreements with processing plants, warehouses, shops, etc. but it takes place in terms of a one-off transactions. An important channel is direct sales to a customer at different fairs, festivals and feasts. In this case, farmers must be aware of the obligations under the existing legislation and they must follow them. Some organic production is sold as conventional one, which affects in a significant reduction in the profitability of this enterprise. The development of the production of raw materials and organic products must be followed by rapid development of the market for organic products. Otherwise, there is no possibility for the development of organic agriculture and it will result in its stagnation and reducing the number and size of farms in the future