Brand power lies in pralines

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2025/11.

Attila Szende
marketing director
Stühmer

“Consumer reactions include downtiering and more people are looking for smaller sizes. At the same time, our own example shows that premium brands and products can also stay on their feet. The category is sensitive to promotions, but in the case of leading products and brands long-term brand building can still pay off”,

says Attila Szende, marketing director at Stühmer Kft.

New products, new sizes and new packaging design

This year Stühmer’s product selection is undergoing a rebranding and most of the pralines already have the new design. The goal is to create a unified yet distinctive brand identity that truly represents Stühmer’s premium quality, heritage and innovation. In 2025 the company successfully launched the Stühmer Pillanat praline product line – in addition to the 500g party boxes, smaller 100g bags have been introduced, with a great variety of flavours.

The flagship product of the range is Stühmer Pillanat Korfu, the “space chocolate” that astronaut Tibor Kapu took with him into space.

Pál Molnár
commercial director
Szerencsi Bonbon

Pralines are typically purchased on impulse and brand awareness, strength and loyalty plus the nostalgia factor are more important, points out Pál Molnár, commercial director of Szerencsi Bonbon Kft. This is why the company’s traditional products, such as Cat’s Tongue and handmade Cognac Cherry can maintain their positions or even grow slightly, for example in the super-premium category.

“The extra work and cost invested in handmade products can be reflected in consumer prices to a certain extent”,

adds the commercial director.

Hungarian momentum

Szerencsi Bonbon manufactures premium Hungarian products, the quality of which is guaranteed by its brand name. In the current market situation the company is focusing on expanding its bar portfolio. Other new products include Szerencsi Souvenir pralines, with national symbols on their packaging. The “free-from” segment is also developing nicely in this category, where they are present with the Zero% product line.

Zsolt Farkas
head of sales and
marketing
Szamos Marcipán

Szamos has experienced a rise in volume sales of certain products, which indicates that consumers continue to have confidence in high-quality products. The company’s sales of larger-sized and therefore higher-priced products exceeded last year’s sales for the same period, albeit only a little – demand for Szamos pralines and desserts remains unchanged.

Limited editions, seasonal packaging

Fanni Krisztina Fekete 
product manager
Storck Hungária

The latest addition to the previously launched Szamos Gourmet Chocolate dessert range is the Szamos Gourmet Chocolate Pistachio White Chocolate Dessert, which they began introducing in September.

Familiar and well-established pralines continue to be in demand – as evidenced by the fact that the key variants of Merci and Toffifee have remained at the top of the charts, reports Fanni Krisztina Fekete, product manager at Storck Hungária Kft.

“At the same time, it is worth noting that the smaller, bite-size merci Petits products are gaining ground”,

she adds.

In the second half of the year the company will bring back some popular, previously successful limited editions to stores. During the holiday season merci and Toffifee will enchant consumers with their well-known seasonal packaging

The category is characterized by high promotion sensitivity, yet for key products and brands, long-term brand building can still deliver returns even in such conditions