Magazine: The Viennese classics are already tuning

Zoltán Szántó, product manager with Pick Szeged Zrt. informed Trade magazin that according to their market surveys, the wiener category is growing in terms of both value and volume, and the sales growth is primarily generated by PL products. His view is that the market remains price-centred. Nearly two thirds of sales are realised by poultry wieners. A restructuring of sales channels started last year and continued in 2013: sales are shifting from hypermarkets to discounters. Pick Szeged Zrt. intends to stay in the market of quality wieners, focusing 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). The company’s Família poultry-meat wiener debuted in 2010 as a reaction to growing demand for poultry products. Sága’s Füstli wieners are Hungary’s market leaders: according to Nielsen data, Sága’s share is 26.1 percent in value and 16.7 percent in volume. Total Füstli wieners’ share is 21 percent in value and 13 percent in volume. Recently the company put two new products on the market: Kedvenc turkey wiener and premium category Bécsi Ínyenc turkey wiener. Sága Foods Zrt.’s head of marketing Tímea Mónika Tóth told our magazine that consumers prefer pre-packaged products even in the New Year’s Eve peak period. The wiener market expands by 50 percent every December. Ádám Szitai, commercial and marketing director of Debreceni Csoport Húsipari Kft. revealed that even in this period low prices are in focus and not brands. Sales are shifting in the direction of promotions – their share has already reached 50 percent. Debreceni Group is one of the most innovative meat companies and has a wide product portfolio. They are preparing for the high season with many new products and surprises. Krisztina Bódi, marketing director of Kométa 99 Zrt. called attention to the fact that one of the meat industry’s most important tasks is to drive consumers towards quality products, making them understand that Hungarian wieners are more expensive than first-price no-name products because their composition is more valuable. Kométa Bécsi wiener is available in 1kg and 300g version and its sales keep growing despite its relatively high price; in the lower-priced segment the company offers Vendégváró pork wiener. Zsolt Kazai, sales manager with Wiesbauer-Dunahús Kft. reported that last December the firm’s sales were the biggest in its history, in a large part due to wiener turnover in the New Year’s Eve period. Their novelty veal wiener product, with its superb price-value ratio, played a major role in this – the products is now also available in 800g version. A completely new Austrian product, Sacher wiener will also hit the shops soon (in 800g version too). ZIMBO premium wieners are in the higher price category but their buyers are loyal. ZIMBO Perbál Kft.’s head of sales Tamás Kováts spoke to our magazine about their goal: when consumers see the ZIMBO brand name, they have to associate it with high quality and a truly innovative character. The company sees the future in quality improvement and innovation. ZIMBO’s new product line for the 2013 end-of-year season has been developed with these ideas in mind. This year they also come out with a ‘Family Pack’, which contains various products for each member of the family. n