Magazine: Buying occasions push cheese sales

Low milk prices influenced the recent past of the cheese market: volume sales soared but value sales dropped a few percent if calculated in forint. Ildikó Toplak, brand manager of Pannontej Zrt. told our magazine that fierce price competition has characterised the market recently, mainly in the segment of mainstream products such as Trappist cheese. In 2015 the market share of import products stayed put at 40 percent (in volume). Private label products’ share was stable at 36 percent. Sales of semi-hard cheese varieties were growing above the average and their market share reached 56 percent last year. Béla Nagy, marketing and PR director of Kőröstej Kft. informed us that last year they had sold 40 percent more Hajdú grill cheese than in 2014 and the same trend continued in Q1 2016.

Cheese blocks realised almost half of sales – in part due to the dominance of semi-hard cheese varieties – but at the same time the market share of sliced cheese products kept increasing considerably. Approximately 30 percent of cheese is sold in hypermarkets, but the channel’s weight keeps decreasing year after year, with discounters and supermarkets really coming up share-wise. The majority of the market is very much price- and promotion-sensitive. As barbecues are becoming increasingly popular, Pannontej has decided to launch two grill cheese products, under the Tihany and Karaván brand names. Ms Toplák revealed that the company is also paying special attention to expanding the selection of their lactose-free products.

2015 was a successful year for the Kőröstej group, as volume sales were up more than 10 percent in both Hungary and abroad. Good news is that 2016 started in similar fashion and the company calculates with a two-digit volume sales growth throughout the year. Mr Nagy spoke to us about the growing number of innovative products in the market, e.g. cheese snacks, exciting packaging solutions, national specialties, etc. Luckily, these aren’t bought to the detriment of traditional products but on top of usual sales. There is still room for development, though, as per capita cheese consumption is rather low in Hungary. The company’s Hajdú brand is now already present on store shelves in almost 40 countries.