Ham: full of opportunities

Among meat products, ham is the category probably offering the most opportunities. Sales are rising every year, and manufacturers have come up with successful innovations. And there is always Easter. Though Easter had meant the invasion of cheap imports, mainly from Slovakia in previous years, the positions of Hungarian manufacturers seem to have improved with the recent food scandals.
– It would be important to let customers know that they are supporting Hungarian farmers and manufacturers by buying Hungarian products and the industry should work together to win the loyalty of customers – says Zoltán Szántó, brand manager of PICK Szeged ZRt. According to Krisztina Bódi, marketing manager of a Kometa 99 ZRt., quality will always matter which is reflected in the fact that premium brands are improving their sales each year. There are a lot of opportunities in technology. The latest trend is making spicier, tastier, softer hams using pickling. Strict regulations apply to pickling in the EU and the materials used must be visible on the labels. The use of pickling has started a polarisation process in the Hungarian ham market, with premium brands becoming stronger and products with a higher pickle content becoming cheaper, encouraging customers to choose these instead of lower prestige meat products. Two successful directions for product development have appeared. One is to reduce fat content and promote a healthier diet, the other is to provide a special flavour, often combined with a nostalgic feeling. This counter-trend to modern diet is not only present in the ham market, with Kamra Java lard from Kométa being an example. Both trends allow sub-brands to be developed in the premium segment. Concentration in the meat products market acts to speed up the development of umbrella brands. A fusion of two major companies in the business took place recently, when Délhús ZRt. became a division of PICK Szeged ZRt., but the well known Délhús brands continue to exist.
A great variety of hams are also produced by Kométa, with variants like cooked ham (Római Prímsonka), smoked ham (Somogyi füstölt tarja), smoked and cooked ham (Somogyi füstölt-főtt tarja), or fried ham (Kemencés sült sonka). Kométa is dedicated to quality which means we always try to provide the highest quality, even though this may not be easy – says Krisztina Bódi.
For Kaiser Food Kft., ham is not a category of special importance. They used to have several types, but now the product they focus on Kaiser Arany turkey breast ham. – As a result of product development, our hams in new shape and flavours have become very successful, says Dr. Éva Pénzes. Companies generally focus on price instead of promotion during the Easter season. Trade marketing however, is seen as very useful during other periods of the year. Impulses at the point of purchase are exceptionally important regarding meat products where brand loyalty is quite low.