Answer:

Market research data indicate that the economic crisis did have a negative effect on the turnover of bars and restaurants. Considering that our products belong to the premium segment, we do not have objective data on the complete pálinka market. What is more, I must say that Agárdi pálinka sales are increasing like never before. Agárdi Pálinkafőzde was founded in 2002 and from day one we were convinced that there was demand for top quality Hungarian fruit distillates, as an alternative to world brands. In the past seven years, we did not make compromises as regards quality and started a conscious brand building activity. Our work bore fruit when Agárdi Pálinkafőzde won the “Distillery of the year” award at the 2009 Destillata competition. It is also worth mentioning that Agárdi Pálinka became a “Superbrand” in 2008 and 2009. But for us the biggest reward is consumers buying our products, no wonder that we sell twenty times more pálinka than seven years ago. As for the market of the European Union, we have to work harder than in Hungary to make Europeans appreciate our products. Individual distilleries do not have the financial means, the necessary connections and the international experience for this. After the Destillata prize we became better known, but we do not plan to raise the level of our export, partly due to a lack of stocks. At the moment, we are working on improving our production capacity.