Eastern EU and Western EU

Eight Hungarian companies attended this year’s InterMeat, InterMopro and InterCool exhibitions held in Düsseldorf in September, while there were 46 exhibitors from Austria, but only one from Romania. A total of 970 exhibitors from over 30 countries attended the event, where 37,000 visitors from 65 countries were registered. Concentration has continued on the supply side. We saw the logo of the poultry processing company Hungerit on the stand of its German distributor, Kühn. PICK has a joint venture with the Italian Alcisa for supplying the German market. Obvious differences exist between Eastern and Western European companies regarding their history. For example, there is a cheese manufacturing family business named Schärdinger in a little Austrian town named. As Gernot Purkhart, CEE sales director has told us, the company was founded in 1900 and has been growing ever since, with expertise and contacts passed on from generation to generation. the generation. The cheese factory named Rupp, founded in 1908 and located in Hörbranz is also present in our market. According to sales director Daniel Marte, their annual revenues total EUR 120 million and they produce 30,000 tonnes of cheese annually. Kaiser Food in Mosonmagyaróvár was established in 1990, while Marathon Foods located in Szentendre is only 17 years old. In the opinion of Szilvia Máté, the Budapest representative of the exhibition, wellness and traceable have become the key words in the German market of processed meat. Traditional delicacy desks served by clerks are becoming popular again in classic supermarkets. However, volume continues to be generated in discounts. The dairy industry succeeded in raising its prices last year and this year as well. Most of the plus revenues went to farmers who are now able to produce more milk. However, consumption of fresh milk, butter and yoghurt has dropped as a result of higher prices. Regarding the deep frozen category, Szilvia Máté pointed out that the boom has continued this year in the German market. Total sales are expected to reach EUR 11 billion in terms of value, exceeding last year’s figure by 5,5 per cent. The main reason for this growth is that housewives are reluctant to spend much time in the kitchen and deep frozen products comply with the three main trends: wellness, convenience and pleasure. What makes Austrians successful? For example, Agrar Austria Marketing GmbH, their collective marketing organisation which holds regular press conferences at the German food exhibitions. Dr. Stephan Mikinovic, director of Agrarmarkt Austria (AMA) has announced that the deficit in the balance of Austrian foreign trade of food is shrinking rapidly, as a result of the dynamic increase in export.