Plant-based foods are taking over

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2024/5

This diverse and constantly evolving category poses both challenges and opportunities. In the following, we are going to show how different companies are adapting to the changes in the plant-based product market.

Low price, high quality

Kitti Pipó, brand manager at Foodnet Zrt. perceives that staple food products within the free-from category have been less negatively affected than the average by the volume sales decline in the food segment.

Kitti Pipó
brand manager
Foodnet

“This may be explained by the fact that those who have made free-from/conscious eating part of their daily routine have a stronger commitment than giving it up overnight”,

she says.

The company is proud of its results with Ribella Hummus, Natrue vegetable drinks and the It’s Us gluten-free range. Recently their main strategy has been to help shoppers with sustained low prices. Premium organic spreadable butter alternative Naturli is just being launched.

The recent shift towards plant-based alternatives is not only a short-term trend, but signals a profound market and social change

Vegan whipped cream bases

István Káposztás
sales director
König-Units

“More and more people choose home cooking, consumers are more conscious of avoiding waste, they look for special offers and buy less, being more responsible in their food consumption”,

points out István Káposztás, sales director of König-Units Kft.

NIQ data from June 2023 reveal that the total market for whipped cream bases, sprays and cooking creams reduced by 14.3%. In this declining market the company managed to achieve a 12% increase in volume sales with the Hulala brand. Last year Hulala entered the market with several new products. One of their flagship innovations is the vegan product line, launched in May 2023, which seeks to support the special diets of vegans and flexitarians. The vegan Hulala Spray Dairy Free, vegan Hulala Whipping Dairy Free, and vegan cooking cream Gran Cucina Dairy Free offer an excellent alternative for these shoppers.

Healthy convenience solutions

Judit Gál
head of marketing and
communications
Eisberg Hungary

Judit Gál, head of marketing and communications at Eisberg Hungary Kft. adds that free-from foods – especially in the packaged or long shelf life food category – often fall into the premium segment, because of their production costs and therefore their pricing. However, a large proportion of people who follow a free-from diet are forced to do so by some kind of intolerance or sensitivity.

“Eisberg’s packaged salad products and salad mixes contain only fresh vegetables and can therefore form the basis of a free-from diet. Our previous salad dressings were yogurt-based, but in May cold-pressed, natural salad oils will appear on store shelves. These perfectly fit into any free-from diet. The oils will debut in three flavours: pumpkin seed oil-roasted pumpkin seed oil, pumpkin nut oil-pistachio oil, and a lime oil blend”,

says Judit Gál.

Tofu is a hit

Naszálytej Zrt. is present in the vegetable products market with the Toffini brand, in the tofu segment of the soya product category.

Katalin Péter
sales and marketing manager
Naszálytej

“The severe drought in 2022 resulted in very poor yields and high commodity prices, plus the inflation, high energy prices and many other factors were also reflected in our 2023 sales performance. This year we have a different market outlook, as 2023 was a successful year in Hungarian GMO-free soya bean production”,

says sales and marketing manager Katalin Péter.

In 2022 their hit product was the tofu-based lemon-flavoured VEGÁN dessert, and in 2023 two more flavours were added to this range: caramel and mangosteen.

One of the keys to market development is narrowing the price gap between animal-based products and their plant-based alternatives

Vegan products are now more affordable

Zsuzsa Takácsné Rácz
sales director
Pápai Hús

Zsuzsa Takácsné Rácz, sales director of Pápai Hús Kft. points out that the food industry has made a lot of progress in the field of plant-based products in recent years, thanks to innovation work – for instance the products are becoming tastier.

“As consumer prices for meat products have grown significantly over the past two years due to a dramatic increase in raw material prices, vegan products have become increasingly affordable. The price gap has narrowed”,

she explains.

The company is looking to roll out new vegan grilling products for this summer.

Transforming product portfolio

Zsolt Szikora
managing director
BiOrganik Online

Zsolt Szikora, general manager of BiOrganik Online Kft. reports that there are more and more products available in the Hungarian market – which is becoming saturated. This can cause difficulties for manufacturers in product listings, as the shelf space can’t keep up with the changes.

“Value for money is an important product choice factor. If the customer can find a product that is right for them in terms of quality, taste and ingredients, then price becomes important and they switch to the similar but cheaper product”,

explains Zsolt Szikora.

In April the company rolled out two new chilled products, VeganChef Vegan Camp and VeganChef Pecsenye ZSÍR.

Food made with a 3D printer

János Hajdu
key account manager
Import-Trade Hungary Kft.

János Hajdu, key account manager of Import-Trade Hungary Kft.:

“Our company is playing an ever-bigger role in bringing plant-based products to the Hungarian market. From our large portfolio of plant-based products, the top brands are Vivera, Revo Foods, Auga, Verdino, Bedda, Unfished, Body&Future and Cocoffee. Recently the biggest innovation has been the vegan salmon style fillet by Revo Foods. It is 3D printed, tasty, nutritious, protein-rich and contains Omega-3 fatty acids, algae extracts and vitamins”.

Products marketed in environmentally friendly packaging are popular, as the category is mostly chosen by conscious consumers.

Personal contact is important

Sales System Hungary Kft. provides consumers with RedPower herbal drinks.

Gábor Egervári
managing director
Sales System Hungary

“We soak herbs in apple juice, but herbs are becoming more and more expensive. Our main ingredient is apples, which we buy in Hungary and are subject to strict certification”,

explains managing director Gábor Egervári.

Consumers like their products because they are natural, vegan, it has no added sugar, and it is preservative-, colouring- and flavouring-free. From their current products, MAN and WOMAN are the two youngest, plus they have two new products in the pipeline in this category and are preparing six more new launches.

The market is slowly becoming saturated, and the fight for shelf space is increasing

Growing organic product range

Rita Reményi
assortment manager
dm Magyarország

Due to customers’ consciousness, environmentally friendly packaging is particularly popular

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