Healthy foods – within an arm’s reach

The market of functional foods is growing in Hungary.

Tamás Czepanecz
brand manager
Nestlé Hungária

Tamás Czepanecz, brand manager of Nestlé Hungária Kft. told us about the segment of cereal products that sales results were developing positively up to August 2019, in terms of both value and volume. Breakfast cereal sales increased considerably and muesli sales were up too. Instant porridge sales grew the most, due to the large number of innovations that had come out recently. The importance of discount supermarkets and drugstores got bigger in sales, while hypermarkets kept losing ground for the third year in a row.

Roland Schuster
senior brand manager
Scitec Magyarország

We learned from Roland Schuster, Scitec Magyarország Kft.’s senior brand manager that shoppers are more and more open to free-from products, and they are also looking for fortified foods, e.g. those with added vitamins. Most of the products sold by the company are fortified with protein.

András Palkó
marketing operations manager
Coca-Cola HBC Magyarország

Coca-Cola HBC Magyarország’s sports and plant-based drinks are very popular. Marketing operations manager András Palkó told Trade magazin that both segments had produced great sales growth in 2018. Plant-based drink sales were up 15 percent and sports drink sales jumped 14 percent in value. These products sell very well in the food courts of malls, bakeries and gyms, as on-the-go consumption is characteristic of buyers. They also like to try new products. In the sports drink category the company launched Powerade Zero Lemon this year. In the plant-based drink segment Coca-Cola HBC Magyarország is present with AdeZ products, the most popular versions of which are almond and coconut.

Balázs Mészáros
head of sales
Cerbona

Cerbona Élelmiszergyártó Kft.’s head of sales Balázs Mészáros talked to us about their flagship gluten-free range – these products are lactose-free too. Sales are growing dynamically year after year, e.g. sales of a gluten-free muesli bar that came out 3 years ago are still increasing by more than 30 percent. Cerbona Sport muesli bars satisfy the increased energy, protein and mineral needs of athletes. More and more shoppers want to buy low-sugar products, so in 2017 Cerbona started work which resulted in reducing the sugar content of several mueslis and muesli bars drastically. Shoppers are willing to pay more for functional foods, they are happy to try new products and are loyal to those foods that work for them.

Zsolt Hampuk
managing director
Update Lowcarb

Zsolt Hampuk, managing director of Update Lowcarb Zrt. revealed that many consumers who aren’t sensitive to lactose or gluten eat products that are free from these, too. The franchise network is transforming many shops into places that also serve food. Update Lowcarb Zrt. makes sure that price-sensitive customers also find products they like in the chain’s stores. The recently launched Norbi Update KETO product range is already very popular.

Andrea Révfalvi
marketing manager
Detki Keksz

Detki Keksz Kft.’s experience is that demand is on the rise for functional biscuits, especially sugar- and gluten-free biscuit sales are expanding – in both value and volume. Marketing manager Andrea Réfvalvi told that shoppers like the company’s sugar-free biscuits – for instance the classic Sweet and the newly launched Cookies range – and the oven-baked KexChips product is also very popular (this has lower fat content and is gluten-free). Sales growth in the category is the biggest in hyper- and supermarkets.

Scitec Magyarország Kft.: The company’s most popular products are pre-packaged snacks and desserts enriched with protein, which can be had on-the-go. Recently the Scitec GYM sub-brand rolled out several new snacks for athletes, for instance a sugar-free muesli bar fortified with vegan protein, magnesium and superfooods. Nestlé: The most popular products are the breakfast cereals that target children, Cini Minis, Nesquik and Chocapic. In 2020 the company will appear in the market with new products. Coca-Cola HBC Magyarország: Powerade is the market leader sports drink Hungary; a blood orange and fruit mix version with added sugar are also available, in addition to the new sugar-free lemon variant. Plant-based AdeZ drinks are marketed in 250ml fruit and 800ml plain versions.

Update Lowcarb Zrt.: Demand is the biggest for the company’s bakery items. They are preparing for Christmas with many seasonal products, such as the highly popular King poppy seed and walnut rolls. Cerbona Élelmiszergyártó Kft.: People’s favourite Cerbona products are the chocolate, sour cherry, and nuts and seeds gluten-free muesli bars. The company has recently introduced a gluten-free oatmeal bar to the market. They now offer a gluten-free alternative in every product segment.

Detki: This year the company came out with an updated version of the popular sugar-free biscuits, under the new name of Sugar-free Sweet. Consumer feedback was very positive. Sugar-free Cookies products are available in cocoa and chocolate bit variants. Detki household biscuits are available enriched with calcium for children, while those consumers who are suffering from diabetes and or are on a weight-loss diet can choose the sugar-free version made with sweetener. Detki also has a Sugar Stop biscuit made with wheat bran and wheat germ. Lurkó biscuits are fortified with vitamins and/or minerals, and are made for kindergarten and primary school children. //