Romanian fruit and vegetable sales in supermarket local-sourcing programme up 60% in H1 2026

Sales of Romanian-grown fruit and vegetables through a supermarket chain's dedicated local-sourcing programme rose 60% in the first half of 2026, wall-street.ro reported. The programme currently brings together 14 cooperatives working exclusively with the retailer and more than 390 Romanian fruit and vegetable producers. In parallel, the chain is extending its “De aici, de aproape” (“From here, from nearby”) programme to national level.

A supplier base built on cooperatives

The supply structure described by wall-street.ro rests on cooperatives rather than on direct contracts with individual farms. Romanian fresh produce has long been fragmented: many small holdings sell separately, in lots of variable size and quality, into wholesale markets. Aggregating more than 390 growers into 14 cooperatives moves grading, sorting, packing and invoicing to a level at which a national retailer can buy — one contract, one delivery schedule and one quality standard per crop instead of hundreds.

The report sets out three headline figures:

• 14 cooperatives supplying the chain on an exclusive basis;
• more than 390 Romanian fruit and vegetable producers behind those cooperatives;
• 60% growth in sales of local produce in January–June 2026.

wall-street.ro does not state whether the 60% refers to value or to volume, and gives no tonnage, turnover or comparison with imported produce sold over the same period. The percentage therefore shows the pace of the shift rather than the absolute weight of Romanian produce on the shelf. Growth of that size over six months is also easier to achieve from a small base, and part of it may reflect new listings and additional stores rather than higher sales per store.

The national rollout

The second element of the expansion is the extension of “De aici, de aproape” to the whole country. The programme is built around produce sourced close to the stores that sell it. Moving it from selected regions to the full store network changes what suppliers must deliver: consistent volumes week after week, uniform calibration and packaging, food-safety documentation, and the ability to ship into several distribution centres rather than a single one.

For cooperatives, that is both the opportunity and the filter. A national listing offers predictable offtake and a planning horizon that spot sales into wholesale markets do not provide, which in turn justifies investment in cold storage, sorting lines and greenhouses. Members who cannot meet the volume or documentation requirements stay outside the programme. The 14 exclusive cooperatives in the scheme are, in effect, the ones that have already cleared that bar, and the pace at which that list grows is a better indicator of the programme's depth than the sales percentage alone.

What it means for the produce trade

Every additional pallet of Romanian tomatoes, apples or potatoes on a supermarket shelf displaces an imported pallet. Romanian retail assortments are covered in large part by imported fruit and vegetables, especially outside the domestic harvest window, and local programmes compete directly with that flow during the months when Romanian crops are available. A 60% increase in one half-year signals to importers and their Romanian buyers that the domestic season is being contested more aggressively than before, even if the absolute volumes involved remain undisclosed.

The limits are seasonal. Greenhouse capacity, storage and irrigation determine how much of the calendar local suppliers can cover, and programmes of this type typically peak from late spring through autumn before thinning out in winter, when imports return to the shelf. The relevant question for the next reporting period is whether the 14 cooperatives and more than 390 producers can hold the gain outside the harvest window, or whether the 60% mainly reflects the strength of the domestic season.