Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are among the most processed vegetables in Bulgaria. Over the past few years, there has been a steady upward trend in tomatoes and peppers processed in one form or another. At the same time, a slight growth has been observed in the processing of gherkins.

According to Eurostat, the fruit and vegetable processing industry accounts for about 7% of the value generated by the food industry. Over the past 1-2 years, there have been some signs of growth, with notable changes in foreign trade.

The fruit and vegetable processing sector managed to export a production worth € 124 million in 2016. The value of imports of such products in the same year amounted to € 120 million, so there was a small positive trade balance. With the EU membership, exports have almost doubled, while imports have grown by about 55%.

Projections show that in the period from 2018 to 2022, tomato processing will be about 7% greater than between 2013 and 2017. Meanwhile, pepper processing is expected to grow by about 26% over the same period. For pickles, an increase of about 5-10% is expected for the 2018-2022 period compared to 2013-2017.