Magazine: End of the year wiener mathematics

The end of the year might bring a price competition on the wiener market that could turn out to be fiercer than ever – the significance of price promotions vastly increased recently. As part of this more aggressive price policy, 2+1 and even 1+1 packaging promotions are used widely. Nevertheless Zoltán Szántó, a product manager with PICK Szeged Zrt. warns that this is a double-edged weapon: – Manufacturers should think twice before starting to use this type of promotion extensively. It might generate extra sales in the short term, but products are probably sold at a loss and new buyers will not stay loyal to the brand. Krisztina Bódi, the marketing director of Kométa ’99 Zrt. is afraid that there will be wiener available for HUF 299/kg this season as well – consumers do not know what this price really means in terms of quality. She added that in the New Year’s Eve dumping import products of dubious quality will also turn up. The growth of private label wieners seemed to slow down this year. Nielsen reported that sales of smaller packaging units improved and small shops bettered their position among retail channels. Erzsébet Sebestyén, commercial director of the Debreceni Group opines that consumers prefer buying lower volumes of wiener per occasion, but of better quality and in modern packaging; these products can be both A and B brands. The company sees the future in small packaging units, with the exception of the end of the year period when the 1-kg version reigns. Anna Sándor, the senior brand manager of Sága Foods anticipates a boom among cheap and private label products in December, but without consumers’ losing interest in premium products. The wiener category is unique because premium products have a 30-percent share of the market, most of which belongs to Füstli. This year Sága surprised consumers with putting Hot and Mediterranean versions of Füstli on the market. With their Falni Jó! range Sága is also present in the lower price segment of the market; this summer they expanded the range with a 350-g version turkey wiener. Sales data from Wiesbauer-Dunahús prove that the premium category managed to stay muscular. Last year they sold more than 150 tons of wiener at the end of the year period and for the same period in 2010 they expect performance above 200 tons. Dr Endre Tamás, the managing director of Wiesbauer-Dunahús Kft. shares his opinion with Trade magazin: – There has been no setback in the premium category. As for packaging units, sales of the pre-packaged 2-pair version increased. Buying in bulk is losing market, with the exception of the end of the year period when the packaged-bulk ratio is 50-50 percent. Mr Tamás is convinced that sales are best stimulated by tasting sessions and magazine ads with photos. Zsolt Kazai, the managing director of Landhof Hungária Kft. is hopeful that their wieners will be the most sought for on the market. Besides their Bécsi and Borjú wieners, they will come out with new products too. PICK Szeged, with its PICK and Délhús brands intends to stay in the quality wiener segment without taking part in any kind of price competition. In the pre-packaged segment they offer plain Pick Wiener, Cheese, Chili and Frankfurter. Among wieners in sheep casing, we find Délhús Békebeli cracking wiener and PICK Békebeli cracking wiener, which from November is also available for retail partners in 20-cm, 800-g, 2-pair version in protective gas packaging – making the product available in the deli counter too. Apropos deli counter: the names of products and manufacturers are often not indicated in the counter. From November PICK is placing a brand tag in every retailer packaging; after the protective gas packaging is opened and the wieners are placed in the deli counter, the tag can be put on the products and shoppers will see the brand name. Paying attention to the trend of expanding cheaper products, with its Família brand the company will appear with two new poultry wieners in 280-g and 560-g version. PICK wishes to strengthen the brand image of its wiener products mainly at the points of sale. Kométa also decided to stay out of the price war. They believe there is no point in investing too much energy in innovation because consumers are traditionalists. The Kaposvár company sells the highest number of products in 300-g version. Sales of their Bécsi wiener improve from year to year. Imre Borbély, commercial and logistics director with Pápai Hús 1913 Kft. is convinced that there is a certain level in quality below which the market must not go. This year they expect the majority of their sales to be realised in the traditional sheep casing wiener category. Sales-wise they also anticipate an increase in the units of domestic-owner chains. From the middle of August their products, including wieners, received new-design packaging. This new image was supported with a strong nationwide media campaign. However, in the increasingly fierce competition they also pay highlighted attention to POS marketing. The Debreceni Group does not count on significantly higher wiener sales than last year. Their view is that cheaper products are still going to be more popular than their premium branded products. At the end of the year products of their new Debreczeni brand will hit the shops, and these include several new wieners in convenience packaging. Besides launching the new brand, the group is preparing for the New Year’s Eve season with in-store tools, store promotions and tasting sessions.