Magazine: Discount stores are pushing forward on the grill product market

Last year grill sausage sales were given a boost – but let’s not forget that this happened after a considerable decline in previous years. This sales decline was so big that despite the 20-percent growth last year it would take years to reach the level of 2008. Zoltán Szántó, Pick Szeged Zrt.’s marketing executive shed light on the fact that the effects of economic recession still linger on. Due to the significant increase in the price of grill sausages some shoppers buy raw meat instead, which they prepare themselves. Luckily grill products have many advantages and now that the worst period of the recession is behind us they can become popular again. Mr Szántó predicts a slower, more balanced growth in sales instead of the former dynamic expansion. There has been a restructuring as regards retail channels: the significance of hyper- and supermarkets is diminishing and discount stores are gaining ground. Dr Éva Pénzes, brand manager with Debreceni Group Meat Industry Kft. reckons that this year consumers will keep looking for products with the best price/value ratio and will visit discount stores more often. According to Boglárka Grabant, Sága Foods Zrt.’s marketing manager the most important factors when buying grill products are good taste and an appetising look. Good old flavours dominate the Hungarian market: cheese, Magyaros and garlic. Small packaging units prevail and in terms of price the HUF 1,000-2,000 category realises 70 percent of sales. Private label products represent 30 percent of the grill product market. Anikó Vasvári, marketing assistant of Kométa 99 Zrt. told our magazine that their grill products are special because they can be prepared in many ways, so if the weather is too bad for a barbeque an oven or a pan can be used as well. Jens Hillebrand, Wiesbauer-Dunahús Kft.’s managing director informed us that they prefer the 300g format and that consumers still like traditional flavours the best, for instance their Partygrill with cheese. Pick Szeged only kept the most popular products from last year’s assortment. 220g vacuum-packaged PICK Pepper, Black Pepper and Cheese grillers with decor spice mix can be found in shops, but from the 160g PICK grill sausages in sheep casing only the Cheese version survived the restructuring of the portfolio. PICK Grill products have a 60-day shelf life and this means that retailers have a longer period for selling them. Kométa 99 expanded the assortment of pre-marinated meats this year, which can be found in stores in vacuum packaging in 500g and 600g versions. Since consumers still prefer traditional flavours the new products are available in pepper- and garlic-based marinade. For those who like special flavours they put three products on the market: Mexican marinated bacon, Dijon marinated spare rib and green herb marinated spare rib. Debreceni group also changed its grill portfolio this season. Their current assortment stands on two pillars: vacuum-packaged 300g Debreceni, Schwab, Cheese and Mustard-Black Pepper sausages and 210g protective-atmosphere Kaiser grill sausages – Bavarian, Garlic and Piquant rolled grill sausages and Spicy and Cheese grill sausages. Sága uses top-quality turkey meat for its grill products, they target those consumers who do not really favour the generally used pork and are keen on quality. This year they launched Cheese and Magyaros grill sausage. All of their grill products are smoked traditionally and are free of artificial colourings and preservatives. They appear in shops in attractive 300g vacuum packaging.