STIMULATORS AND BARRIERS OF DEMAND FOR FOOD (POLISH CASE)

The main objective of the paper is to analyse the influence of stimulators and barriers of demand for food in Poland in 2001-2014. The results of econometric and single source analyses constituted the basis for the diagnosis in this respect and determining the level of saturation of food requirements, scale of qualitative transformations related to food consumption and direction of changes related to purchasing preferences under the influence of both economic and non-economic factors. It was concluded that the overall level of economic development and consumers' disposable income still constitute significant stimulators of demand for food, although it ought to be noted that its developmental trend is associated with the level of saturation and combination of individual preferences. In the case of households with relatively high incomes, the demand for highly processed foods is created above all. The same applies to external demand, including in particular the offer of foods exported onto EU markets.