Magazine: Growing demand for natural products in the fruit syrup market

According to data from Pölöskei Drink Kft., the fruit syrup category has expanded by 5-7 percent recently and the company’s sales have improved even more than this. Product and strategy planner Károly Takács told our magazine that last year their product innovation brought results unseen in previous decades. János Gólya, managing director of STORK Food Manufacture Kft. (the manufacturer of Méhes-Mézes fruit syrups) opines that the biggest change and problem of the recent period has been the disappearance of certain flavours from the portfolios of Hungarian fruit syrup manufacturers.

Raspberry is the most popular variety, but due to the fact the raspberry harvest was bad in the last few years, raspberry prices skyrocketed in the world market. Because of this some manufacturers started to make apple-based syrups with a raspberry infusion instead. Ital Magyarország Kft.’s category manager László Hajnal informed our magazine that sales of their Ági fruit syrups show a balanced increase year after year. Imre Szabó, founder of Derecskei Orchard told that last year they had started advertising their fruit drinks as a ‘Sober Spritzer’ – a refreshing alcohol-free drink in the summer heat.

Consumers prefer branded fruit syrups and Mr Takács told our magazine that demand by conscious consumers is shifting towards products with high fruit content. They are looking for new products and want fruit syrups made from natural ingredients. Discount supermarkets are increasingly important in fruit syrup sales. Mr Hajnal spoke to us about how the good-quality private label products of discount stores are gaining ground, while brands reign in hypermarkets. Mr Gólya’s experience is that the PL products that they manufacture and their Méhes-Mézes fruit syrups complement each other very well. They are happy to see that health- and environmental consciousness are more and more important in the market. The company’s products sell exceptionally well in health and organic shops.

Ital Magyarország Kft. opines that the category of fruit syrups is developing faster to the expense of fruit-flavoured syrups. Raspberry and orange are the two most popular Ági flavours and the recently launched lime-mint product has been very successful too. 100-percent natural apple juice was the first product in the Derecskei Orchard range; in 2015 the company put 3 new flavours on the market, such as 100-percent natural sour cherry, apple and beetroot juice, and apple and common sea-buckthorn. Pölöskei Drink Kft. combines basic flavours in their fruit syrups but they also take fruit syrup lovers to new adventures with their acerola-raspberry and blueberry-raspberry syrups. STORK Food Manufacture Kft. also offers seasonal flavour combinations. One of their biggest innovations was coming out with family-size, 1-litre Méhes-Mézes fruit syrups.

Pölöskei Drink Kft. constantly monitors consumer taste and current trends, so that they can quickly come out with new products when needed. For instance this year they launched a limited edition product range that consists of ginger tasting Dudler, tutti fruit products Bubble Boy and Girl and a Watermelon syrup. Three more limited edition fruit syrups will appear on store shelves. The company’s message to consumers is ‘Reliable, good-quality products.’ Pölöskei’s credo is that a product is never ready, they always to try to make them a little better.

STORK Food Manufacture Kft. came out with many new products in 2015 and 2016. Some of these are unusual and exciting at the same time – some will stay in the market, while others are changed a little to suit consumer taste better. Early this year their products got a new, more modern look. Méhes-Mézes fruit syrups are made the classic way, making sure that raspberry syrup is made from raspberry and elder syrup is made from elderflower.

Derecskei Orchard products are made from the highest-quality ingredients, using a special method – 8 times longer pressing than the traditional practice. It is very important to note that they don’t add water to a concentrate: they put real fruit and vegetable juice in a box, preserving their flavour and fibre content. Thanks to this type of processing there is no need to add sugar, colourings, preservatives or aromas to them. Ital Magyarország Kft.’s strategy is using modern technology to make Ági fruit syrups. To health-conscious consumers they offer reduced-sugar fruit syrups or products made with stevia, in many flavours. Ági fruit syrups will soon return to shops with a new packaging design and caps that make sure no dripping occurs. /