The wine market is waiting for better times

– Sales and buying occasions of consumers moved drastically towards products supported with promotions. It is promotion campaigns that drive consumers to sales channels and products – Gábor Soltész, president-director of Ostoros-Novaj Bor Zrt. sums up trends on the Hungarian wine market. Zsuzsa Laber, communications director of SPAR Hungary is of the opinion that the market share of private label product is also on the increase. Among branded products it is cheaper wines that sell better, to the detriment of the pricier segment. – It is the economic crisis that controls domestic consumption, but alongside price promotions a good price/value ratio also starts to matter more – says Dezső Diószegi, sales director of In Vino Veritas Kft. Borbála Szabó, sales director of Soproni Kékfrankos Kft. thinks that some consumers consider Hungarian wines to be expensive in comparison to New World wines. Winemakers were forced to cut their marketing budgets and specialist wine shops are struggling despite their promotional efforts. As a result of years of educative work, consumers know their wine much better than before.

Réka Kata Molnár, product manager of Törley Pezsgőpincészet Kft. told us that retail chains are also trying to convey information about wines at the point of sale. Selling wine is not only putting the product on the shelf but also making consumers realise that they are buying a piece of culture. The bulk of domestic wine consumption is still realised in the category of Hungarian wines way below the HUF 1,000 price level. Economic recession strengthened domestic wine consumption, so hyper- and supermarket sales augmented. Gábor Soltész is convinced that Hungarians’ interest in wines is growing and there is a group of consumers who consume wine daily. Borbála Szabó believes that wine has a good chance among young people to replace ‘party drinks’ (a good example for this is the growing popularity of rosé wines) – marketing campaigns should communicate happiness and a positive vibe to the young generation. Dezső Diószegi is hopeful that wines can take a step forward if there will be no wine scandals, tax increases and constant changes in legislation. Zsuzsa Laber’s view is that consumers who buy in retail units still like red semi-sweet wines the most, and white semi-sweet wines are also more popular than white dry wines; rosé has been unable to go above the 7-percent threshold.

Wines of fruity character like Irsai Olivér are capable of attracting ‘external’ consumers to wine because they are easy to understand – and today it is trendy to be knowledgeable about wine. According to Réka Kata Molnár, the appearance of new wines on the market is a rather long process because it takes at least 3-4 years until recently planted grape varieties enter the market as wine. However, it also depends on winemakers how fast they put internationally competitive wines on the market, for instance sweet wines with low alcohol content like BB Arany 7 Cuvée. Dezső Diószegi opines that last year’s most successful product innovation was the Sárgamuskotály must of Andrássy Pincészet. Despite being successful in Western Europe, bag-in-box or small bottles did not break through in Hungary, probably because consumers and bar/restaurant owners are rather conservative. Borbála Szabó’s view is that we still think of wine as a traditional product. Zsuzsa Laber expects progress in marketing communication, e.g. the appearance of modern sales supporting tools. According to Gábor Soltész, the different parties need to work together for finding the optimal solution to the sector’s problems. Dezső Diószegi added that partners have to trust each other and an increase in consumption has to be achieved without unnecessarily reducing prices. Réka Kata Molnár and Borbála Szabó called attention to the efforts of retailers in promoting the culture of wine consumption, using special marketing techniques and promotion campaigns.