Magazine: Let’s cook for the baby – from what we find the shops!

The baby food market is special because these products are made for a relatively small, rapidly changing target group. In addition to the effects of economic recession, baby food manufacturers in Hungary also have to calculate with the fact that fewer babies are born every year (in 2008 almost 100,000 babies were born, in 2011 only 88,000; by January-November 2012 82,834 babies were born in Hungary).

According to Univer Product Zrt.’s product category manager Rita Bazsó, baby food sales augmented last year, thanks to the mobility of mothers and to the fact that they want to live comfortably. Import Trade Kft., the distributor of the Ovko brand didn’t experience a sales decline either. Managing director Tibor Nemes told our magazine that mothers had became more conscious buyers, they compare product ingredients and nutritional values. Ilona Guba, sales and marketing director of Hipp Production and Trade Kft. opined that Nielsen data shows that the baby food market kept shrinking in terms of both value and volume sales, mostly because buyers are afraid of overspending. Tibor Varga, sales director of Hamé Hungária Kft. (Hamanek’s distributor) told us that they managed to achieve significant growth last year. Univer recently introduced junior baby food products, which are recommended from the age of 10 months and were developed based on the latest dietetics principles. Ovko offers six types of new organic baby desserts, five types of organic baby food, three organic baby drinks and three organic tea granules. They also came out with five 700g baby food products – price-wise these are impossible to beat on the market. Hipp appeared in stores with salt-and additive-free baby snacks and introduced new flavours in already existing categories. 2012 brought several new Hamanek products too, in both the baby food and the dessert categories. Products with 100-percent fruit content were very successful – these came out in special packaging. For baby food manufacturers it is important to keep in touch with mothers. Univer has a Baby-Mother service, a website and a Facebook page, plus they send direct marketing letters to mothers when their baby becomes four months old. Hipp also finds direct marketing communication really efficient. Hamé Kft. hasn’t used direct marketing communication yet but they use social media more and more frequently.