'An apple a day' program for Romanian students makes good business for local producers

Romanian students of up to the 8th grade will receive an apple a day at school from the beginning of November until the end of the school year, which will translate into 1.6 million apples sold by producers every day. Over 70 percent of the contracts for supplying apples went to Romanian producers, according to PRO TV channel. The country's Agriculture Ministry will invest EUR 5 million in this program by the end of the year. The costs for the entire program reach EUR 13.4 million.

Romania's apple production in 2011 was half the one in 2010, which triggered higher apple imports. A kilo of apples costs between RON 2.5 and RON 6 in Bucharest. The program for delivering apples to schools has become a good way to compensate for the Romanian producers' lower sales on account of higher imports on the market. The 'apple a day' program in schools is similar to an existing one, called ‘milk and croissant’ (in Romanian: Cornul si laptele), which started during the Social Democratic Party (PSD) ruling between 2000-2004. editor@romania-insider.com