Rabbit, hop!

Confectionery manufacturers are optimistic ahead of the Easter season. Last year Easter confectionery sales were lower than in the year before. This had to do with a few percentages higher prices and the fact that Easter was at the end of the month. We learned from Korinna Kozma, brand manager of Nestlé Hungária that in 2016 sales of Nestlé sweets developed faster than the market average: sales of SMARTIES and BOCI figures also improved within total sales. Chocolate egg and rabbit figures are traditionally the most popular, they realise 80 percent of sales. Rabbit figures are overrepresented in the shops of Hungarian-owned retail chains, while eggs dominate in the discounts supermarket channel.

Dóra Szikora, brand manager of Bonbonetti Kft. told our magazine that more and more consumers tend to prefer higher quality, milk chocolate figures. A recent survey by the Association of Hungarian Confectionery Manufacturers revealed: the number one product choice factor for Hungarian consumers is to get real chocolate products, followed by flavour, price, size, brand and packaging. In the Easter season hypermarkets and discount stores are the most important retail channels.

Sándor Sánta, managing director of Chocco Garden Kft. informed us that the company’s first Easter season was last year, when their products weren’t even listed in the shops of all retailers. According to Mr Sánta, the big question is how great the influence of increased ingredient prices will be on the consumer prices of products. He added that thanks to the new packaging technology used, import products now look much nicer – this creates a new challenged for Hungarian companies. It is a general trend that the popularity of dark chocolate is growing.

New products from Nestlé in the Easter season: 21g SMARTIES chick and lamb figures, and 180g SMARTIES rabbit. The 21g SMARTIES rabbit will get a new packaging design. A real special product in this year’s Easter portfolio is the 200g BOCI Aero egg-rabbit. This Easter the 42g egg product, SMARTIES Márti will be the face of the company, appearing on all communication platforms with its cheerful, spring-spirited design.

Bonbonetti’s TIBI chocolate is very popular in the Easter season too. This well-known brand has been a consumer favourite for more than 70 years and represents high quality. DUNAKAVICS and FRANCIA DRAZSÉ are also very popular confectionery brands of the company – these are made in Hungary and in the Easter period appear on store shelves in special packaging. This Easter two new Chocco Garden products make their debut: hazelnut-milk cream chocolate bonbons and a mixed Ester pack (a special box for boys and another for girls). The company believes that from a sales perspective product packaging is key, this is the reason why Chocco Garden products have a special, turquoise colour.

G.I.F.T. Kft. is the distributor of premium chocolate brands such as Lindt and The Belgian. Sales of these products are growing dynamically. Brand manager Zita Bagi told us that sales of the Lindt Gold Bunny figure augmented by more than 20 percent in 2016. This year shoppers will find the hazelnut-milk chocolate version of Gold Bunny in stores. For this year the company forecasts even better sales than before, driven by the constant innovation of the Lindt brand.