From grandma’s best to Mexican cuisine

The food industry has responded to our accelerated lifestyle with plenty of innovation. The assortment of instant food has expanded significantly. Instant food is a very comprehensive category. It includes everything from filled pasta and frozen pizza to powdered dishes. The two primary segments are frozen food and canned food. Globus Konzervipari Nyrt. is the market leader in both canned food and food to be prepared in micro wave ovens. Its brands are Globus, Deko and Kőrös in the canned segment, offering a range of 30 recipes in different sizes. It also has 15 micro waveable dishes, including some which also belong to the Norbi Update system. Globus has different sales and marketing policies for the two segments. – We have found that canned food is generally not heated while it is still sealed, in hot water, as we had believed previously. We have also found that micro waveable food is also consumed sometimes in places where micro wave ovens are not available for use – says Bálint Jencs, head of marketing and product development of Globus Nyrt. According to Dr. Melinda Péchy, sales director of Marathon Foods Kft, convenience products are destined to be successful. – Our target group is composed primarily of young people who want to prepare a special delicacy quickly – she says. Their intention is to provide special flavours in finger- food, including those from Chinese and Mexican cuisine. With instant food, nothing is left to the creativity of consumers. As a result, product introductions carry more risk than usual. Product concepts need to pass several tests before they are approved. Development of new products can take between 3–12 months for Globus, as not only flavours but packaging also needs to be worked out carefully. While classic dishes dominate the canned food assortment of Globus, modern dishes are abundant among micro waveable products. Some of the Globus micro waveable dishes are sold under the name “Flavours from the Planet”. Members of this product line are characteristic and well known dishes of distant countries, while the remaining micro waveable products belong to the Norbi Update system. The Norbi Update products are handled as a separate brand. Being a relatively new and dynamic category, in-store activities are very important for the promotion of instant food. – Globus is proud of having used a powerful TV campaign with a GRP level 25-30 per cent above the average for promoting its micro waveable products – says Bálint Jencs. Marathon-Foods often uses on-packs as promotional tools. – We treat POS activities and samplings as a priority, as consumers are able to try our products directly and choose the one they like most – says Melinda Péchy.