Syrups: a real Hungarian category

The two big segments of the category are ‘flavoured’ syrups (these contain no fruit) and real fruit syrups. János Gréczi, owner-managing director of Gramex 2000 Kft. says: – From a 2-litre flavoured syrup 14 litres of soft drink can be made, so these syrups are preferred by less well-off consumers. Real fruit syrups are bought by the same group of consumers who purchase fruit juices with higher fruit content. The ‘flavoured’ segment produces volume sales and the real fruit segment is crisis-resistant. Orange, raspberry and strawberry are the three most popular flavours and a small but stable group keeps buying sour cherry and elder syrups. According to Tamás Rátvay, commercial director of Szikrai Wine Kft. every syrup manufacturer runs the same circles: consumers find the similar flavours and similar colours in all possible packaging versions one can imagine. Szikrai Wine Kt. manufactures the Piroska syrup family, which has been successful for 30 years with its premium fruit syrups. In the autumn the company will come out with a new product. Szobi is another traditional syrup brand in Hungary and it is still well-known among consumers, despite the fact that it was not available in retail for a few years. When it was reintroduced to the market, Szobi returned not only with syrups but with fruit juices as well. Andrea Olaszi, commercial director of Szobi Beverage Manufacturing Kft. told Trade magazin that consumer demand is shifting towards lower-priced products, but this does not necessarily mean lower quality too. New Szobi syrups are also available in 0.5-litre and 0.75-litre PET bottles, elder and strawberry are the new flavours and although they kept the old Szobi logo, the label was updated too. Their fruit drinks are sold in 1-litre and 2-litre versions in apple, peach, blue grape, orange and green grape flavours. Béla Janicsek, managing director of 20-year-old Pölöskei Syrup Kft. told our magazine that they distribute the majority of their products in PET packaging. One of their most successful products is Pölöskei raspberry syrup but they also sell exotic varieties such as flavone, blood orange, muscat grape and ginger. At the beginning of the season they entered the market with grenadine, acerola and multivitamin syrups, which soon became popular among consumers. Pölöskei’s diabetic syrup line also develops dynamically and in production the company gives priority to using stevia instead of sugar from 2012. Gramex 2000 Kft.’s syrups are marketed under the Sconto brand, but they also manufacture private label products for many retail partners. Recently they switched from 1-litre to 0.7-litre packaging in the case of the 5-member Sconto product family, in order to offer syrups with a better price/value ratio. In the autumn the company is expected to launch new flavours.