Magazine: First-price products are pushing forward in flour sales

Wheat prices in the world market keep fluctuating and because of this the price of flour also changes. According to Boglárka Horváth-Blázsik, marketing manager at Sikér Zrt., this spring prices started dropping and the trend continued after the harvest. Ákos Ferenczik, marketing manager of GoodMills Magyarország Zrt. added that demand for mill products has been stagnating or decreasing in the domestic market for years, due to changing (increasingly conscious) consumption habits. This propelled the company to try and find new markets abroad. This year 25 percent more wheat was harvested and this pushed prices down so far, but global demand/supply will have the final word in this matter. Although domestic flour sales grew a few percents in volume in 2012, flour usage in general didn’t increase. Mr Ferenczik told our magazine that last year the appearance and expansion of first-price products – which are even cheaper than private label flours – characterised the market, which means that total value sales declined significantly. Private label products make up for a bit more than 40 percent of domestic sales. First-price products weren’t launched by retail chains; they are purchased by a high number of consumers, often in large quantities because of their low price. Plain wheat flour is still the most popular product, followed by soft wheat flour and semolina, and packaging-wise the 1kg product is the king; discounters’ share from sales keeps growing. GoodMills was brave enough to start brand building and was rewarded with the success of Nagyi titka. In 2012 they put Nagyi titka cake flour on the market, top-quality flour that contains no additives and boasts high gluten content. This Christmas will bring the debut of 2 new products: Nagyi titka wholemeal flour and Nagyi titka extra fine cake flour. Sikér’s innovation activity goes in the same direction as in recent years: healthy lifestyle, conscious diet. Sikér plain wheat flour, Sikér soft wheat flour and Sikér semolina are in the centre of marketing efforts at the moment, but innovation work is in progress as demand for low-carbohydrate and vitamin-enhanced products is growing. n