(It will be) Better

All things considered, the beginning of the year was better than expected. Last year, at the Business Days conference, we had already seen the dark clouds gathering in the sky, and we said that that 2023 wouldn’t be any better. Yes, in general it is true that both manufacturers and retailers must calculate with a volume sales drop, but on the other hand value sales are developing nicely, thanks to the rising prices. Cost structures have changed significantly, and here those who predicted that some firms will stay on their feet but others won’t were right…

Generally speaking, we can conclude that the clouds are still there, but the situation is better than we forecasted, and if things will keep going this way, 2023 will be a better year – probably.

Everything is still changing around us, for instance there is a new wave of labour force movement. I don’t remember the last time when our magazine reported this many new recruitments, postings and transfers – actually we could have written about twice as many if we received the green light for communicating the personnel changes in time; and let’s not forget: where there are new managers, new ideas and strategies also emerge.

In its own way our magazine also tries to shape its future. Already last autumn we started advertising our programmes for 2023, and there are many changes about these too if compared with the previous years – the events have been revamped and revitalised, and you will learn more about them as the weeks are passing. 2023 is going to be an exciting year for Trade magazin, but then again, everything is exciting in the FMCG market at the moment. Looking forward like all good ship captains do, I am glad to announce that the Trade Fleet will sail into Tapolca for the Business Days conference in September. I am sure that we will be sailing on rough seas, perhaps also even on the way home, navigating waters both known and unknown, while waiting for the best wind and expecting the unexpected. We must sail in these conditions now, but the most important thing is to have a well-defined destination, experienced seamen, and a well-built and safe sailing vessel – the rest will only seem to be one big adventure in the end.

Until then we still have many programmes ahead of us: The most successful promotion of the year conference – where one of the speakers will be Péter Geszti, the Inno d’Or – Innovation of the year competition, trade day and award ceremony; the Business Meetup&Dinner, where guest speakers from Hungary and abroad will be waiting for participants; and let’s not forget about the virtual and physical presence programmes organised by the Trade Marketing Club either. We are going to send you detailed information about these by e-mail, but you can also read about them online and in the print version of our magazine.

We wish fair winds to everyone!

Best regards,

Zsuzsanna Hermann, Editor in Chief