Half of Romanians are willing to make an extra effort, such as driving a longer distance, to buy Romanian products from supermarkets and hypermarkets, according to a recent study conducted by iSense Solutions. Some 44% of the respondents would drive a longer distance to their favorite stores if they knew these sold Romanian products.

When choosing a certain supermarket or hypermarket, Romanians take into consideration several criteria such as freshness, taste, variety, and whether the store sells Romanian products or not.

According to the study, 58% of Romanians consider that Kaufland sells the largest variety of Romanian products, followed by Carrefour (36% of Romanian chose this hypermarket), Auchan (34%), Cora (16%), and Lidl (16%).

When it comes to the Made in Romania criterion, 56% of Romanians think it is important that eggs come from local production, 52% believe that the meat should come from Romania, 52% - the vegetables, 51% - the milk, 48% - the fruits and the cheese, 45% - the yogurt, 32% - the fish, and 39% - the canned food.

“Among them, those aged over 55 think it is very important that the milk and the vegetables come from Romanian production, while those aged between 35 and 44 prefer meat and yogurt made in Romana,” said Andrei Canda, managing partner iSense Solutions.

The study also analyzed Romanians’ preferences when it comes to supermarkets and hypermarkets, Kaufland ranking first with a share of 86%, followed by Lidl (85%), Auchan (63%), Carrefour hypermarket (61%), and Profi (59%). On the other hand, Selgros (30%), Carrefour Express (27%), Penny market XXL (21%), La Doi Pasi (20%), and Shop&Go (12%) were the least visited stores.

iSense Solutions conducted the study online on a sample of over 1,000 respondents.

Large retailers in Romania to sell 51% of fresh food from local production

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com