Rice moves up a category

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2024/6-7

Dr. Imre Tímár
managing director
Tanner Trade

“This year the runaway inflation has slowed down, so we see converging consumer prices once again and sales are slowly picking up”,

reports Dr Imre Tímár, managing director of Tanner Trade Kft.

With that said, rice prices are higher in all categories compared to last year and the price level is expected to remain stable in 2024. Due to high input prices, the volume of domestic production is decreasing and the share of imports is increasing. Currently domestic production accounts for about 20% of consumption.

Diverse product selection in every retail channel

Changes in demand have two sides: increased prices naturally favour cheaper, lower quality products in the short term. At the same time, as demand for rice rises not only in the domestic market (currently the average consumption is 6.5 kg/person/year) but also worldwide, there is growing interest in more special products. Hungarian retail has recently followed the surge in demand, with a diverse selection of rices now available in the different retail channels. There is a growing buyer base for value-added products such as basmati rice, which has a lower glycaemic index and can even be consumed by diabetics. Tanner Trade Kft.’s latest product will be available in a textile bag – in brown and basmati rice varieties too.Their products includes basmati rice, basmati kernel rice and Arroz Brazal rices (Maratelli rice, brown rice).

Rice prices are higher than last year in all categories and are expected to remain unchanged this year

Companies are delaying new product launches

Mihály Bencs
managing director
Riceland-Magyarország

Mihály Bencs, managing director of Riceland-HungaryKft.:

“Although there have been positive changes, it is still difficult to launch new products in the market at this stage. Inflation has held back volumes sales, which affects the return on investment in new product launches”.

The company is also delaying the development of new products, but in the longer term they are thinking of promoting international cuisine. At the moment they are mainly using social media in their marketing work, plus they are in negotiations about in-store promotions with several chains.

There is a growing interest in special products with increasingly eye-catching packaging and reliable quality

They need to react at all levels

Fruzsina Valentinyi, managing director of Valoryz Production Kft. calls our attention to the introduction of the EPR fee last summer, which she believes was ill-considered. Consumers are open to new things and it is worth monitoring them constantly. This is why the company has started growing and processing an already forgotten type of grain.

Valentinyi Fruzsina
ügyvezető
Valoryz Production

“The winners of the current changes will be products that require little inputs and are drought-tolerant, so that they can produce good yields and be sold at good prices”,

explains Fruzsina Valentinyi. Valoryz will come out with two new products this summer, which are linked to valoryz rice. The company has also launched its Responsible Food Hero programme, educating primary school children about why they should buy Hungarian, seasonal food. //