Lidl sells the Sugar-Free Cake of the Year for 1,199 forints

The winner of this year’s competition, as decided by the Hungarian Confectionery Industry Association, was the “DCJ Style Practice” cake by László Balogh and Roland Kis from Gyula, while the sugar-free category was won by the “Dreamer” cake by Alfréd Kovács from Vác. Both desserts evoke the flavors of classic Hungarian cakes – such as drum cake, goose foot, and rusk cake – in a modern form, with premium ingredients.

The industry emphasizes that the high prices are justified by the expensive ingredients and the extremely labor-intensive preparation. For example, the raw material cost is 600 forints gross for a single slice.

Lidl’s pricing is almost unprecedented, so a big rush is expected to start in stores on August 28. Although the discount chain’s cake will be somewhat lighter than the confectionery version, and it is not yet known who makes it, the price difference could still be extremely attractive to customers.

Consumers are doing well, but the question is how well smaller confectioneries will be able to justify their real costs in the shadow of such a large market player.