Pálinka, my love…

By: Ipacs Tamás Date: 2026. 02. 11. 15:31

🎧 Hallgasd a cikket: Nyelv: Sebesség: 1.05×

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2026/02-03

László Mihályi
president
National Pálinka Council

“2025 brought serious challenges for the Hungarian pálinka industry. Market players describe the past year as rather gloomy, mainly due to extreme weather conditions and their consequences”,

emphasises László Mihályi, president of the National Pálinka Council (PNT).

Only Hungarian fruit can be used to make pálinka, but a general fruit shortage led to demand for home-grown fruit from abroad. As a result, distilleries had difficulty obtaining fruit of sufficient quality and only at much higher prices. Based on November figures, there was a sales decline of around 10%.

External factors

László Nagy
CEO
Kunság-Szesz

“Although the sector as a whole saw a small drop in volume sales, the premium segment’s – and thus Kunság-Szesz Zrt.’s – performance was dominated not by decline, but by consciousness. After the fluctuations of previous years, 2025 will go down in our history as a year of consolidation: instead of quantity, quality, origin and the story behind the product have finally become important”,

says László Nagy, CEO of Kunság-Szesz.

Zsolt Beliczay
CEO
Zimek Pálinka

Zsolt Beliczay, the CEO of Zimek Pálinka:

“Pálinka is now clearly a luxury product, especially high-quality, premium pálinka. It is available in few retail outlets and from few manufacturers. Typically, pálinka accounts for only 1-2% of the turnover of stores selling alcoholic drinks”.

The illegal, uncontrolled and unlimited production of homemade spirits causes problems.

HoReCa plays the leading role

László Mihályi explains that it is a global trend that alcohol consumption is declining. The industry’s position is clear: those who consume alcohol should choose quality products. In product size 0.5-litre and 0.33-litre bottles continue to dominate. Hospitality’s role remains decisive, but pricing varies widely.

Kunság-Szesz Zrt.’s stability is ensured by a consciously planned channel mix. The backbone of sales continues to be come from beverage wholesalers, but in 2025 the company’s presence in multinational retail chains has grown significantly. This is followed by the webshop and then the HoReCa sector. In the hospitality sector the average price of 4cl of pálinka is HUF 1,800-2,000 in the countryside and HUF 2,500-3,000 in Budapest.

The coming years will be about repositioning pálinka

Directions and shortcomings

Zsolt Beliczay informs that Zimek Pálinka Manufaktúra makes high-quality products, but in relatively small quantities. The brand celebrated its 20th anniversary on 6 December and the company primarily supplies the HoReCa sector, with its pálinkas only being present in a few retail stores. Their experience is that premium pálinka is mainly consumed in bars and restaurants, typically by Hungarian consumers.

László Mihályi adds that the issue of contract-distilled and privately distilled spirits is a recurring topic in professional consultations. These products are currently not subject to excise duty, so the key issue mayn’t be tax increases, but stricter controls. If controls become more effective, distribution will become more difficult, which is expected to strengthen the market for commercial distilleries. The industry is cautiously optimistic about the future. An improvement in the domestic pálinka market can be expected in the next 3-4 years if the crackdown on illegal distilling becomes more effective.

Last year, distilleries could buy fruit of suitable quality at significantly higher prices than before

Possible breakthrough points

László Nagy reveals that their most effective tool continues to be tastings at festivals and events. The next few years will be about repositioning pálinka. They plan to profit from the trend that lower-alcohol, flavoured and RTD drinks are gaining ground among younger generations. Soon they will launch a new product, Mátyás NERO blue grape pálinka. Zsolt Beliczay thinks the problem in HoReCa is when places want to sell a non-premium product at a premium price or when they sell poor-quality pálinka, regardless of the price.

Zimek Pálinka Kft. has already diversified its product portfolio: while three years ago pálinka accounted for 100% of their turnover, today it only has a 60% share and the plan is that – while maintaining the nominal level – its relative proportion will continue to decline.