Polish Regulator Says Years of Enforcement Cleaned Up Produce Origin Labeling in Stores

Key Takeaways

• Major Retailers Fined: UOKiK fined Jeronimo Martins Polska more than $15.3 million (over PLN 60 million) and Kaufland Polska Markety $3.4 million (PLN 13.2 million) for misleading consumers about the origin of fruit and vegetables.
• Inspections Found Widespread Problems: Early inspections identified labeling irregularities in over 30 percent of stores and roughly 10 percent of produce batches examined.
• Targeted Investigations: Detailed inspections of 263 Biedronka stores and 71 Kaufland stores uncovered frequent discrepancies between shelf labels, packaging, and delivery documents.
• Compliance Improved Significantly: Follow-up inspections in 2025 found irregularities in less than one percent of batches in Biedronka stores and 1.5 percent in Kaufland stores.
• New Transparency Rules: Since February 17, 2026, fruit and vegetables in Polish shops must display the flag of their country of origin to help consumers identify where produce comes from.

Deep Dive

Poland’s competition and consumer protection authority says years of enforcement against misleading country-of-origin labels on fruit and vegetables are beginning to pay off, with follow-up inspections now showing that irregularities in grocery stores have dropped to negligible levels.

The campaign, led by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), began after consumers raised concerns that produce being marketed as Polish was in fact imported. According to the regulator, investigations revealed cases where shelf labels indicated one country of origin while packaging or delivery documents showed another.

The discrepancies prompted the authority to launch inspections across the retail sector and ultimately pursue enforcement action against major supermarket chains operating in Poland.

“Accurate and truthful product information is one of the most important consumer rights,” said Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK. “Our investigations confirmed that customers of Biedronka and Kaufland stores did not have clear information about the origin of fruit and vegetables. A different country was indicated on the shelf label and a different one on the packaging.”

Enforcement Action Against Major Retail Chains

The investigations culminated in two enforcement decisions issued in 2021 targeting Jeronimo Martins Polska, which operates the Biedronka supermarket chain, and Kaufland Polska Markety.

UOKiK concluded that both retailers had misled consumers about the origin of certain fruits and vegetables. Jeronimo Martins Polska was fined more than $15.3 million (over PLN 60 million), while Kaufland Polska Markety received a $3.4 million (PLN 13.2 million) penalty.

Courts later upheld the regulator’s decisions. The ruling against Jeronimo Martins Polska is now final and the company has paid the fine to the state budget, while the case involving Kaufland Polska Markety remains under review by an appellate court.

UOKiK said the penalties were intended not only to sanction the companies involved but also to serve as a warning to other businesses about the importance of providing accurate product information.

Early Inspections Revealed Widespread Issues

The enforcement actions followed extensive inspections carried out by Poland’s Trade Inspection Authority beginning in 2019.

During an initial round of inspections in July of that year, authorities visited 96 retail outlets belonging to chains including Aldi, Auchan, Biedronka, Carrefour, Lidl, Netto, Tesco and others. Inspectors found irregularities in 32.3 percent of the stores examined.

Out of 1,162 batches of fruit and vegetables inspected, 118 batches (10.2 percent) contained incorrect or missing information about their country of origin.

A second wave of inspections in the first half of 2020 revealed similar problems. Officials visited 395 outlets, including 356 stores belonging to retail chains, and identified irregularities in 140 establishments, representing more than 35 percent of the locations inspected.

Inspectors reviewed 3,527 batches of produce, again finding incorrect or missing origin information in 358 batches (10.2 percent).

Biedronka and Kaufland Under the Microscope

Targeted inspections focused on the Biedronka and Kaufland chains following those broader findings. Between late 2019 and early 2021, inspectors examined 263 Biedronka stores nationwide. Irregularities were identified in nearly 30 percent of those locations, with some stores showing problems affecting more than 20 percent of the product batches reviewed.

At Kaufland, inspections conducted between January 2020 and June 2021 covered roughly 30 percent of the chain’s stores in Poland. Authorities found irregularities in 38 percent of the stores inspected, and 24.7 percent of the 215 produce batches reviewed contained incorrect origin information.

A follow-up inspection conducted in the second quarter of 2021 found that labeling errors were still present in 43.7 percent of the Kaufland stores revisited, reinforcing the regulator’s concerns at the time.

Follow-Up Checks Show Dramatic Improvement

More recent inspections suggest the enforcement effort has had a measurable impact.

In the third and fourth quarters of 2025, the Trade Inspection Authority returned to stores belonging to the two chains to determine whether the labeling problems persisted.

The results were markedly different. According to UOKiK, irregularities now affect less than one percent of the batches inspected, ranging between 0.23 percent and 0.73 percent in Biedronka stores.

At Kaufland, inspectors identified labeling issues in 1.5 percent of the batches examined, a significant decline compared with earlier inspection results.

The regulator said the findings suggest that enforcement actions and financial penalties helped prompt improvements in how retailers present origin information to consumers.

New Labeling Requirement Introduced

Polish authorities have also introduced new rules aimed at increasing transparency for shoppers. Under a regulation issued by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, fruit and vegetables sold in stores must now be marked with the flag of their country of origin. The requirement took effect on February 17, 2026.

Oversight of product labeling in stores has also shifted. The Main Inspectorate of Agricultural and Food Quality, which operates under the agriculture ministry, has taken over responsibility for monitoring labeling and product quality in retail outlets.

Consumers who encounter labeling irregularities are encouraged to report them to the inspectorate.

For UOKiK, the campaign demonstrates how enforcement actions combined with inspections can reshape market practices. What began as a wave of consumer complaints has now, according to the regulator, resulted in a retail environment where shoppers are far less likely to be misled about where their produce actually comes from.

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