He believes Slovenia needs an analysis on what crops to focus on, as it cannot for example compete in the production of wheat and industrialised plants.

The Agriculture and Forestry Chamber could set up a system giving producers the infrastructure they need for a regular supply, Balažič said.

Agriculture Ministry State Secretary Tanja Strniša was bothered by the prices of milk at grocers, which have not decreased despite the steep drop in the purchasing prices, but Balažič rejected this, saying that the milk prices dropped significantly.

Some Slovenian dairies are buying milk from Eastern European countries and sell it under Slovenian brands, he added.

Analysing the trends in retail, Balažič said that the number of discount stores was on the rise globally and that this also affected traditional retailers, which were forced to lower their margins and profit.

Balažič expects the future to bring more direct orders and home delivery. "The optimisation of logistics will turn retailers into a mere platform. The internet will have a big role in the world in the future, especially in big cities with large concentration of purchasing power."

He thinks producers, especially local producers, should be more proactive. Agricultural counsellors are teaching producers how to produce while they should also teach them how to sell, he said.

Analyses show that production and exports drop when agriculture subsidies rise. This happens in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, said Goran Živkov, former Serbian agriculture minister and the founder for company SEEDEV.

According to him, Slovenia mainly exports to Serbia sausages and prosciutto, but also whiskey, coffee and oranges. Serbia meanwhile exports to Slovenia vegetable oils and soy products.

"Slovenia has not put into best use the fact that it was almost ten years ahead of Serbia and Croatia. Subsidies have made your farmers lazy. But it is true that there are good and bad subsidies."

Strniša replied that Slovenia had been financially supporting farming on difficult terrain to preserve agriculture, landscape and the people in those areas. But she admitted that farmers too needed to be competitive in the globalised world.

In a time when low-budget food is accessible everywhere, people are becoming aware that its quality cannot match the locally produced food. In Slovenia, a lot has been done to raise awareness in this respect, she said.

"Some now even want information on the origin of food at restaurants. This could be an additional burden or an additional business opportunity," she said.