Salami brands: it is investment time
2023 was a year of inflation in the food sector, but the category of high meat content salamis was hit particularly hard by rising raw material prices. There was a 10% value sales drop, but volume sales began to rise again from the end of the year.
This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2024/8-9
![Szabó-Spanyol Henriett, Pick Szeged](https://trademagazin.cdn.webgarden.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Szabo-Spanyol-Henriett_opt-scaled-e1661630069235-217x300.jpeg)
Henriett Szabó-Spanyol
PICK senior brand
manager
Bonafarm
“Every month we see a few percent increase in volume and customers are starting to return to salami. This is partly due to the fact that the average price of the category is similar to the same period last year”,
says Henriett Szabó-Spanyol, PICK senior brand manager of Bonafarm.
Market players say there is still a downtiering in the category.
![Benkő András-KaiserFood](https://trademagazin.cdn.webgarden.io/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Benk__Andr_s_Kaiser_Food.jpg)
András Benkő
sales and marketing
director
Kaiser Food
“This doesn’t only mean shoppers switching from a brand to a private label, but also a category level change, that is customers are switching from salami to a product that looks like salami”,
points out András Benkő, sales and marketing director of Kaiser Food Kft.
![](https://trademagazin.cdn.webgarden.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/PT9_Szalami72_opt-300x199.jpeg)
A category-level shift is also observed, with customers switching from salami to what appears to be salami
Strengthening of private labels likely continue
![](https://trademagazin.cdn.webgarden.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Kelecsenyi-Zita-KOMETA_opt-e1724755253579-234x300.jpeg)
Zita Kelecsényi
trade marketing specialist
KOMETA 99
“We believe that the strengthening of private label salamis will continue in the long term. Cheaper product categories, such as cold cuts and various slices have also taken customers away from the ham and salami categories. As for price trends, we see that quality-focused producers haven’t been able to offer better promotions, but they haven’t increased prices either”,
says Zita Kelecsényi, KOMETA 99 Zrt.’s trade marketing specialist.
“Instead of more expensive products consumers often opted for cheaper, but still acceptable quality alternatives, as well as for lower-priced private label salamis. Often they put smaller products in their baskets to spend less per buying occasion or they were looking for economy packs”,
informs Eszter Borbély, marketing manager of Gyulahús Kft.
At the same time focusing on more affordable and economical products doesn’t necessarily mean consumers are buying less, says Csanád Dankó, marketing coordinator of Gallicoop Zrt.
![](https://trademagazin.cdn.webgarden.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Danko-Csanad-Gallicoop_opt-scaled-e1724755327849-230x300.jpeg)
Csanád Dankó
marketing coordinator
Gallicoop
“On the contrary, they often cast their votes on large-format products with a lower price per kilogram. Nevertheless, the past year also showed that there is a group of consumers with considerable purchasing power, who are still looking for premium quality salamis”,
adds the marketing coordinator.
![](https://trademagazin.cdn.webgarden.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/PT9_Szalami45_opt-300x268.jpeg)
Sales volumes of winter salami, the jewel in the crown of the salami category, are back on an upward trend
Creating consumption opportunities
PICK is concentrating on offering more consumption opportunities for PICK Winter Salami and other PICK salamis. For them the best news is that volume sales of winter salami – the crown jewel of the salami category – are back on the rise. The company’s promotional activities have also contributed to this: during the big football event of the summer PICK sliced Winter Salamis contained 11% more product, and the company periodically packaged fun gifts (lunch bags and supporter scarves) with PICK Winter Salami in the spring and the summer. Kaiser Food’s perception is that both consumers and retailers are less receptive to new products at the moment, so there is smaller focus on new product launches than in the past. The drop in consumption because of low purchasing power is also reflected in shelf presence: there are far fewer products on store shelves and these are typically the products of manufacturers who are still spending money on brand building, which have already proven their worth to customers.
![](https://trademagazin.cdn.webgarden.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/PT9_szalami46_opt-300x199.jpeg)
Consumers actively watch out for promotions and discount offers by supermarket chains
Exports drive innovation
Gyulahús Kft. is constantly working on the development of products, for example to cater for special dietary needs: their salamis are still lactose- and gluten-free. The company’s export activities motivate them for continuous innovation and development, as different markets have different needs and requirements. Gyulahús Kft.’s brand communication aims to strengthen the emotional attachment of the target group. They are present at various culinary festivals, trade fairs and other food industry events, and maintain an active presence on the main social media platforms. Gallicoop Zrt. has integrated the entire supply chain into its operations and thanks to this they have greater flexibility. This also means that the company can keep price increases to a minimum. Based on market feedback and consumer needs, they are constantly improving their economical products and coming out with new flavours. 2023 brought the debut of Gallio grilling sausages in cheese-bacon and herb variants, sous vide thigh filet, and gyros meat, which have been very popular ever since. In the first half of 2024 a number of new premium ham and breaded turkey breast products hit the shops. //
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