Successful lobbying

At the end of February the Hungarian Confectioners’ Craft Union (MCI) – the largest representative body of the domestic confectionery industry – initiated negotiations with the government and approached Minister for National Economy Márton Nagy with a request to extend the recent package of 5 + 1 measures (worth approximately HUF 100bn and aimed at improving the competitiveness of the hospitality industry, including restaurants) to include confectioneries.

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2026/04

A little over a week later the minister announced the government would include confectioneries in the 5+1 point hospitality industry action plan. Currently there are more than 3,000 confectioneries operating in Hungary, with revenues exceeding HUF 127bn. The decision could mean a total of HUF 9-12bn in support for Hungarian confectioneries in 2026.

The government was open to the sector’s proposals