Magazine: Ham, hammer, the hammest

It is difficult to compare the last few seasons in Easter meat product sales because this holiday has a different date every year. If Easter is when people just got their salaries, shoppers spend much more than in those years when the salary day comes after Easter. Well, the latter was the case last year and it will be so this year too. This means the period retail can profit from will be shorter but more intense.

Zoltán Szántó, senior product manager with Pick Szeged Zrt. revealed that hypermarkets are still the most important retail channel, realising 45 percent of seasonal volume sales; stores smaller than 400m² were responsible for 20 percent of sales and those bigger than that had a 19-percent share. Self-service products make up for 53 percent of volume and 59 percent of values sales.

Krisztina Bódi, marketing director of Kométa ’99 Zrt. told Trade magazin that it is still early days for drawing any conclusion from the effects of the recent VAT cut on pork, but so far sales trends have been promising. Kométa focuses on its Kemencés baked ham and Kemencés Prague ham in the Easter period. The marketing director added that consumers are becoming more conscious and demand is growing for high quality products.

Kaiser Food’s experience is that two categories dominate the market in the Easter period: traditional smoked ham and other pig parts that require a long cooking and smoked-boiled, typically tied spare rib and shoulder blade products which are cheaper. Péter Fábián, brand manager with Kaiser Food Kft. explained that consumers always decide which product to buy relying on their personal taste and budget. One thing is sure: delicious Easter ham can only be made from high quality, well-formed and properly processed pig parts.

PICK Szeged Zrt. had an excellent Easter season last year. Volume sales of PICK Békebeli products were up 8.1 percent in the Easter period in comparison with Easter 2014. PICK Békebeli tied ham, spare rib and Frikandó ham are still the most popular products in the PICK Easter selection. Last year they also put Békebeli hind pork knuckle on the market. All PICK Békebeli products are self-service products, with 0.8-1.1kg ones being the most popular. Mr Szántó informed us that all seasonal PICK products would be available at the same prices as last year.

Kaiser Food realises 4-5 times bigger volume sales in the Easter period than in other parts of the year. Consumers’ favourite Kaiser product is smoked-boiled spare rib in vacuum packaging, which is available in several sizes. In 2016 the new product is a limited edition Kaiser Premium Easter product range that was created using consumer feedback. Kaiser Premium smoked-boiled spare rib, shoulder blade and thigh bring something new to the traditional Easter ham market. All of these products are free from allergens, beechwood-smoked and have a 90-percent meat content. What is more, they only need to be cooked for 1 hour.

Zsuzsa Takácsné Rácz, director of commerce at Pápai Hús Kft. told our magazine that they produce ham relying on expertise and traditional technology. In addition to their popular Kőrishegyi hams they also offer boiled Esterházy ham, traditional Pápai peasant ham, traditional Pápai peasant shoulder blade, traditional Pápai smoked thigh and traditional Pápai smoked spare rib. Last year the Easter season was very successful for the company’s products and this year they are counting on even better sales results. The director shared the good news that discounters, which were formerly focusing on private label products only, have started to show interest in branded products.