UK retail giant Tesco has doubled the amount of Polish food it offers as the demand for the products rises.

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“Poles began arriving in the UK about five years ago and quickly created a strong demand for delicacies from home,” the retailer said.


By mid 2008 there were estimated to be 1.2 million Poles living in the UK and Tesco used connections from its Polish business to bring over food.


But by the beginning of 2009 demand for Polish food began to wane as jobs in the UK began to dry up because of the recession.


Now with the Polish press reporting that Poles are starting to return to the UK Tesco said it has seen the first rise – 15% – in UK demand for Polish food products for nearly a year.

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As a result, Tesco will this week nearly double its Polish food range, rolling out 92 new Polish delicacies, the supermarket’s first dedicated food range for Poles for 18 months.


Polish foods buyer Tomasz Zarebinski said: “When jobs began drying up some Poles returned home in order to try and find work but many found it equally hard over there and have decided to come back to the UK.


“That has directly led to the first rise in demand for Polish food here for nearly a year and as a result we have now decided to extend our range.”


Among the products on offer are ready meals made by Lowicz, pate made by Drosed and pickles made by Dawtona. There are also snacks such as FritoLay crisps and Grzeski Chocolate.


Included in the range is typical Polish fare such as salty sticks, white sour soup, meat balls with tomato sauce, long life milk, pates, and carrot juice.


Other popular Polish foods are golabki, flaki, fasolka, canned fish, Polish mustards, pickled vegetables, plus beer brands such as Tyskie and an energy drink called Tiger.


The most popular products are juices, pickles, and ready meals.


Tesco now sells 211 Polish food products in 563 stores across the UK.