Investing In Poland’s Middle Class

Warsaw, Poland: Lamb rogan amritsari at an authentic Indian restaurant. Bánh mì, one of the world’s great sandwiches, prepared by an elderly Vietnamese woman. Beef goulash and rice-stuffed grape leaves at an authentic Georgian eatery. Weisse beer and bratwurst at a German beer hall. Sushi at a tiny but excellent sushi bar.

During my week of investment research in Poland, the only cuisine I didn’t eat was, well, Polish — though, to be fair, I was treated to a tasting menu built around traditional Polish ingredients at Poland’s only Michelin-starred restaurant.

Still, my point is this: This is Warsaw, formerly of bleak and bleary communist fame. Less than a generation ago, restaurant culture here did not exist. The best you could hope for was a so-called milk bar, a government-subsidized cafeteria offering the most basic soups, fried chops and pierogi (and, of course, milk). They were set up during the communist era as a place for workers to eat dinner away from home every once in a while for a miniscule amount of zloty, the Polish currency.

Today, whatever food you might crave is available — and typically prepared by a Georgian, a Mexican, a Lebanese, a Vietnamese, an Indian, a German, a Chinese, a Russian, a Brit, a Thai, a Japanese … all of whom have relocated to Warsaw, Gdansk, Krakow, Poznan and other larger Polish cities because they realize that Poland is Europe’s “soaring eagle,” the European version of Asia’s tiger economies.

It’s an opportunity that will likely see Poland’s middle class emerge as the best investment to make over the coming decade.

I was last in Warsaw in the winter of 2013, meeting with economists, companies and consumers for my newest book, Replay: Your Second Chance to Invest in the American Dream. One of the bankers I met back then told me that as recently as 2007 to 2008, he knew just about all the restaurants in a one-mile radius. By the time I met him, he told me that so many new restaurants had opened, and more were opening just about every week, that he could no longer keep track of them.