Autumn, winter, Christmas

Usually these are the words we use more and more frequently in sentences at this time of the day. As the year passes, everyone is talking about autumn promotion campaigns and winter product launches, and the expected sales performance in the Christmas period.

Well, not this time! The topics we have been discussing a lot recently or heard the news about are the energy situation and rising prices, growing inflation and how expensive products can get before people will stop buying them, what will happen to the shopper basket, how purchasing power is reducing in various parts of the country, and when the exchange rate will stop soaring…We could continue listing other problems as well, such as logistics issues and prices, the workforce situation – up until now there hasn’t been enough workers, now the layoffs are likely to start and who knows when they will end, what the drought will bring in the short and the long term, and how it will influence the productivity of the food industry, what kind of raw material and product shortage we will have to calculate with in the future…

Actually we hardly have any time left for thinking about Christmas, about which the digital world is talking like it practically starts in July – or did start in former years, but not this time. What will happen this year?

Meanwhile there have also been changes in the regulations, and there will be more from the autumn… The public health product tax (NETA) or the price cap on certain products haven’t made the situation of FMCG companies easier, and the same can be said about the government suddenly restricting the fuel price cap, and unexpectedly abolishing the itemised tax for small businesses (KATA) scheme – and we could name so many more things.

Let’s change our perspective and take a look at things from up in the sky, looking beyond our country’s borders or perhaps even observing other continents. It can well be the case that the situation isn’t much better elsewhere either. What will the autumn, winter and Christmas bring, in Europe and at a global level? What will happen next year?

During the 5 days of the Business Days conference we are going to try and answer these questions together, from the perspectives of suppliers, retailers, wholesalers, HoReCa businesses and various service providers. We will discuss the present and the future, analysing likely and worst-case scenarios. There will be good news and beautiful moments too, but we won’t be hiding our thoughts either, as just like every year, at the 15th Business Days every side will lay their cards – opinions, strategies, challenges and opportunities – on the table, so that when we will have to make decisions the autumn, winter and Christmas will be a little easier.

We are looking forward to seeing you all! More information: businessdays.hu.

Best regards, Zsuzsanna Hermann, Editor in Chief