Food industry

Supermarket revenue during the first half of 2019 rose 3.4 percent compared to the same period last year.
Foodstuffs, especially frozen foods and snacks, accounted for most of that increase.
The quantity, or volume, of sales increased much less, as supermarket chains limited the number of special offers sold in order to boost profitability.

Farmers from Pazardzhik protest in the center of the regional town, disagreeing with the imposed voluntary slaughter of pigs in the "back yard".

Today was the deadline for most of the districts in the country to slaughter the pigs in private farms.

From July 31 to Monday, August 5, a state of emergency was declared in the Northern Bulgarian region of Silistra because of a confirmed case of African Swine Fever in a pig-breeding farm in the village of Popina. The Regional Food Safety Directorate will organize a 12-hour inspection at slaughterhouses in Dulovo, Tutrakan, and Sitovo in the area.

The average price of the fields increased by 12.6 per cent in 2018 compared to the previous year, while a decare of agricultural land reached 941 levs before 2018, a growth of 7.9 per cent. The rental income has increased by 4.3 percent to 48 leva per hectare, according to data from the National Statistics Institute announced on Wednesday. Permanent grassland, however, declined by 16.8%.

Vegetable producers from the region of the southwestern Bulgaria's towns Sandanski and Petrich protest against the low purchase prices of tomatoes which are grown under glass. The price of vegetables is lower than last year. As a reason, they indicate the import of tomatoes from Greece and Macedonia.

One of the world's leading food production company - the American, Mars, plans to release four new brands in the Bulgarian market in 2019. One of them is in the chewing gum segment, where the group is a market leader. With it in the coming months will appear more brand chocolate desserts, as well as two pet products. This was made clear during a press conference organized by the company.

The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) will carry out extra inspections across the country ahead of Easter and St. George's Day holidays, said the Agency.

The European Union has produced 15.2 million tonnes of poultry meat in 2018, a new historic highlight. This represents a cumulative increase of about a quarter or 3.2 million tonnes since 2010, Eurostat data show.

The government has vowed to take all measures possible to boost agricultural production and ensure food price stability, including direct vegetable and fruit sales to consumers through municipalities.

Poland has exported a total of 2,700 kilograms of suspicious beef to several European countries, which is currently withdrawing from the markets, Econ.bg reports.