Frozen products are waiting for the market to thaw

2009 was the year when consumers started spending more time in the kitchen and spending less eating out. Dr József Losó, the CEO of MIRSA Zrt. completely agrees. He saw a bigger relapse in gastronomy, while sales in-store definitely improved. In the case of MIRSA this trend prevailed not only among convenience foods and ready-made meals, but also with vegetables. According to Andrea Király, the brand manager of Maresi Foodbroker Kft. two thirds of consumers prefer traditional Hungarian flavours when they buy frozen convenience foods and ready-made meals, but demand for the ethnic food category also grows. Among their Iglo products (which managed to grow despite the crisis) there are wok vegetable mixes, Mexican vegetable mixes and Italian- or Spanish-style gourmet cod – buyers are mostly city-dwellers, those with a higher income and young people. Valéria Gergely, owner/managing director of Gergely Gasztronomi Kft. is convinced that convenience foods will break through, since women will have less time to cook in the future. She also added that health conscious consumers would appreciate that freezing was one of the best preservation methods, e.g. because no preservatives were used. László Markovits , managing director of MAR-NE-VÁLL Kft. (the distributors of Ripp-Ropp products) told us that private label products managed to grow significantly (especially among breaded products), primarily at the expense of national brands. Branded product manufacturers now focus on the young generation who like to prepare food rapidly and comfortably. Maresi Foobroker’s Iglo selection offers breaded vegetables and breaded fish filled with cheese and spinach – meals which are ready in 15-20 minutes. MIRSA focuses on young people by offering smaller portions (spinach and sorrel is frozen in smaller chunks instead of one big block) and using technology that results in healthier products. In their communication they emphasise their products’ Hungarian origin. Last year Gergely Gasztronomi Kft. came out with a new product family called Lapcsánka: it is made from fresh vegetables (some know it as ‘tócsni’) and is available with four flavourings; it makes a perfect garnish when grilling. Iglo is Europe’s number one frozen product brand. Their slogan is ’Nature is the best recipe’ and their communication strategy uses both ATL and BTL tools, secondary placements are regular and they highlight the natural character of their products. MAR-NE-VÁLL builds on the fact that many people consider cooking some kind of obligation, something they have to do but they do not like: their products only need reheating; the company is ready to produce ready-made meals complete with a garnish, but the Hungarian market is not ready for these yet.