Magazine: Discounters’ share from wiener sales is growing

László Benedek, sales and marketing director of Kaiser Food Kft. told the following in connection with the high season – the week before New Year’s Eve – in the wiener category: ‘Despite that Kaiser Food did well in the end-of-year ‘wiener rally’ in 2013, we mightn’t take as much risk this year. Obviously our sales growth in the wiener category this year wouldn’t have happened without our good performance at the end of last year.’ We learned from Zoltán Szántó, senior product manager of Pick Szeged Zrt. that pork wiener sales grew but there was a 3.8-percent decrease in poultry wiener sales. He added that in 2014 hypermarkets’ share from sales kept shrinking and discounters became the dominant channel in wiener sales; stores with a floor space below 400m² also realised significantly lower sales. Tímea Mónika Tóth, marketing manager with Sága Zrt. added that lower-priced 1kg self-service products are more and more popular. Flavoured products such as Sága’s Füstli – which can be found in shops in four versions – do well, too. Promotions are regular and they take the form of products packaged together, price promotions and of course there are those related to launching new products. Ms Tóth reckons that before participating in these with their products, wiener producers have to decide whether they want to achieve short-term sales growth or want increased customer loyalty and a strong brand. Mr Benedek also sees the flaws of promotions but says to stay out of them is a mistake, too: those manufacturers who don’t lure buyers with reduced prices before New Year’s Eve can’t make major sales. Pick Szeged Zrt. concentrates on the premium category in the wiener segment. They focus on selling the PICK Békebeli cracking wiener in sheep casing in the premium category, while in the artificial casing segment PICK smoked wiener and PICK long shelf life wiener are the main products (sold both in bulk and pre-packaged). Among peeled wieners they compete with 180g PICK Wiener and PICK Frankfurter in the market. Sága is hopeful that the end-of-year season will be better for them than in 2013. This time they don’t come out with new products but continue innovating and updating existing products, in order to meet customer demand as much as possible. ZIMBO Perbál Kft. often sells more wieners in December than their 3-month performance in other parts of the year. They offer a wide range of products, from 400g double packs to 2kg protective-atmosphere products – informed commercial director Tamás Kováts. The majority of the company’s wieners are in sheep casing but they have lower-priced products too. They sell 400g ZIMBO Wiener, 500g, 1kg and 2kg ZIMBO Frankfurter and cocktail wieners – the latter debuted in 2014. Zsolt Kazai, sales manager with Wiesbauer-Dunahús Kft. told Trade magazin that in the 2013 season their wiener sales increased by a record 25 percent. He added that prices are key in shopper decisions, so it is very important to make sure that consumers also get the chance to purchase the top quality products at promotional prices. Wiesbauer-Dunahús’ wiener, long wiener and new products are available to partners and consumers at competitive prices