Reliable quality hams for Easter

It seems that the last Easter season has been a quite successful one for manufacturers of branded hams. The 2007 Easter campaign by the Association of the Meat Industry communicating the “responsible manufacturer – reliable product” also made a major contribution to this success. For many years, the Easter season had been the period when all the negative phenomenon present in the Hungarian meat industry surfaced simultaneously. Shelves had been filled with cheap imported products of doubtful quality. The strong media response to the low quality of cheap products had an adverse effect on brands as well and caused confusion among consumers. Private labels also appeared in this category, making life even more difficult for brands. It is a recent development that a secondary season – Christmas – has also developed for cooked and smoked products – says Zoltán Szántó, brand manager of. PICK-Szeged Zrt. According to Nielsen data, the quantity sold around Easter has dropped, but the average price is up. Krisztina Bódi, the marketing manager of a Kométa 99 Zrt. expects a growth in demand in the future. Emese Kovács, the marketing manager of Master Good Kft. is also optimistic about the future, as Hungarian consumers are increasingly turning to higher quality products. Innovative products like roasted and grilled hams have also appeared. Though Hungarian flavours are still the most popular ones, more exotic flavouring is getting more popular than in the past. According to Pál Perger, sales director of Pápai Hús Zrt, products made using traditional technology have reappeared and are successful. He also expects growth in the market, as the group of customers who prefer quality and can pay for it is growing. This is why Pápai Hús is focusing on premium category products and wellness. At present, they have 4 product categories including premium and wellness. The assortment of Kométa is also quite diverse with cooked, smoked, smoked-cooked and seasoned products under the same umbrella brand. The two way development of the market is also reflected in the Easter assortment of PICK Szeged Zrt. The PICK Békebeli product lines are examples of the revival of traditional flavours. The assortment of the Délhús brand is even wider. Brands play an especially important role in the Easter season, as this is the time when a flood of unidentified products appears on the shelves. Packaged Easter products of PICK still come in 0.6 – 1.3 kilogram sizes.