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For six years the customer satisfaction index in Poland has grown by over 17 percentage points to nearly 78 percent, and it currently exceeds the customer satisfaction levels recorded in the USA and the United Kingdom. Service quality and its growing significance among businesses have had a tremendous impact on customer satisfaction. For the eleventh time the Customer Service Quality Star titles have been awarded to entrepreneurs recording the best results in this field.

More than 80 percent of investment in the development of Polish start-ups is state-funded. The reason for this is the still underdeveloped private-funds market. The Polish market for high-risk start-ups is slowly catching up with the world in professionalism. About 10-20 percent of venture-capital funds in Poland can already be considered as top-performing funds. However, the percentage of those that aren’t working well is still too high.

Polish poultry industry is thriving. Total production in 2017 is assessed at record-breaking 3 m tonnes. The consumption of poultry is also growing to more than 30 kg per person a year. As much as 45 percent of poultry production is being exported. In 2017, we exported nearly 1,2 m tonnes with a value of PLN 8.3 bn. Polish poultry is exported mainly to European markets. In order to keep it on a relatively high level, Polish producers have to seek customers outside Europe.

Personal hygiene products’ market has been steadily growing by some 3-4% per annum. Faster growth is experienced by its relatively new segment, namely home care products. In both cases the dominant trends to govern this market over the next years are innovation and environmental-friendliness. You might think that innovation in the production of cotton pads or swabs is limited. Quite the opposite, you can be very innovative in the production of even such rudimentary personal care products, says Rafał Szczepkowski, CEO at Harper Hygienics.

The total production of windows and doors in Polish facilities grew in 2017 by nearly 6 percent and reached 23.4 m. Over the last four years the number of windows and doors produced in Polish factories has increased by 24 percent, the data from Centrum Analiz Branżowych (CAB, a Polish construction market research agency) indicates. Experts predict that next year the market will grow by about 5 percent with the increase in exports reaching 9-10 percent. The growth in the windows joinery industry is mainly due to exports, in which the highest share, 25 percent, is held by Grupa VELUX. Last year’s results reflect the good situation in the whole sector and are a good sign for 2018.

A designed-from-scratch, more modular and spacious Citroën Berlingo, and a new C4 Cactus after a facelift, equipped in a number of technological innovations – these two were the main stars presented by the brand during the Motor Show in Poznań. But Citroën has a few more premières up its sleeve, including C5 Aircross, a large D-segment SUV, which is to appear in stores in the second half of the year. This year the concern aims to sell 17,500 cars and delivery trucks on the Polish market. The C3 continues to be its best-selling model.

Poland produced 2.3 m tonnes of sugar last year after the lifting of the sugar-beet and sugar quotas. This has led to a surplus of more than 600,000 tonnes on the domestic market. Exports to non-EU markets might be a solution to this problem. This, however, would require an appropriate system of logistics and infrastructure. To this end, Krajowa Spółka Cukrowa will build a new terminal in the Port of Gdańsk, allowing for the exports of about 300,000 tonnes of sugar a year.

Economic cooperation between Poland and the United States is flourishing. 2017 was a record-breaking year in terms of trade, which reached 12.7 bn dollars. The value of American investments in Poland is estimated at nearly 42 bn dollars. Foreign investments are growing in terms of numbers and seeing improvements in quality. They are increasingly often based on latest technologies which find their first use in Poland. Polish companies, too, are becoming bolder and bolder overseas. More than 70 Polish companies and businesses with Polish capital operate in the United States, with a total investment value of more than 2 bn dollars.

Italian cuisine has become Poles’ cup of tea. The Mediterranean diet has become the second most popular food type, second only to our own, traditional cuisine. This is translating into growing imports of Italian food, which recorded an almost 46 percent increase over the last 5 years. The EUR 826 m worth of exports of Italian food to Poland includes mainly coffee, chocolate and cocoa products, olive oil, pasta, tinned vegetables and fresh grapes.

For several years now, direct sales companies have been doing very well on the Polish market. In 2017, they recorded a nearly 5-percent increase in revenue to PLN 3.3 bn, and the number of their customers increased by 2 percent to reach almost a million. A few years back, Poles would generally buy cosmetics, while now they tend to purchase dietary supplements and products and home appliances.

Washing gels already make up half the laundry products market in Western Europe. In Poland, their share amounts to approximately 15 percent, but is increasing rapidly. The 100-million-zloty Henkel project consisting of a new gel production line in the Racibórz plant is the company’s answer to the growing demand. The laundry products manufactured in Poland will be exported to the markets in Central and Eastern Europe.

Luxury cars are now a more and more popular sight on Polish roads. By 2022 their number can grow by up to 10 percent a year, Deutsche Bank statistics suggest. In 2017, as many as 176,000 premium cars were registered in Poland. There were much less luxury cars with prices above PLN 215,000 – only 140+. But their number is likely to grow, as is that of affluent Poles, who spend more than half of all their luxury goods expenditure on cars. Clients are now becoming more interested in using than in owning. That is why Poles are more and more often opting for a lease.

Digitalisation has become a necessity and a priority for business, regardless of the size of the organisation and the industry. It is a condition for keeping up with the market, making it possible to create new business models and to provide an improved real-time response to customer needs. Digitalisation also impacts consumers themselves, whose awareness and expectations are rising. It exerts the strongest impact on the sectors which are closest to customers: services, retail trade and marketing. Every third business in Poland has already defined its digital strategy.

Almost 80 percent of Polish agri-food products are exported to the European Union. Exports are negatively affected by the growing phenomenon of protectionism, which covers such measures as numerous sanitary inspections, negative media campaigns and additional certification requirements. More or less 30 percent of goods exported to countries which create barriers are discriminated against. As shown by the report developed within the Single Europe Varied Food programme, the European Commission is able to combat protectionism more effectively thanks to changes in procedures.

The Seaport in Gdańsk is to invest PLN 600 m in two major projects supported by EU funds. These are to attract new clients within the Baltic Sea region, which is Europe’s fastest growing sea area. Transshipment volume in Polish ports is growing i.a. because of favourable economic conditions.