Baking – with consumers economising more?

Ágnes Szűts
marketing manager
Kotányi Hungária

According to Ágnes Szűts, Kotányi Hungária Kft.’s marketing manager, the spices they make are essential food products, therefore it is very likely that shoppers won’t buy significantly less from them, even though they have many things to worry about these days – which are likely to make them economise. “We must prepare for communicating the benefits of branded products well, because it is highly probable that consumers will also be looking for cheaper alternatives in stores” – the marketing manager added.

Manufacturers calculate with downtrading

Csilla Antal-Kutassy
senior product manager
Dr. Oetker

Kotányi’s experience is that consumer demand decreased for private label spices after the pandemic period. It is especially true for spice mixes that shoppers like to purchase branded products more. Dr. Oetker is a key player in the baking additives market.

Senior product manager Csilla Antal-Kutassy: “In the last few years demand for baking additives increased sharply because of the pandemic, as people were spending more time in their homes. Sales of Dr. Oetker Instant Yeast have remained high ever since. Even if demand for premium products might drop temporarily, we hope that baking will stay popular.”

Henrietta Csicselyné Biró
sales director
Thymos Hungária

Henrietta Csicselyné Biró, sales director of Thymos Hungária Kft.: “It is very difficult to predict the future in the present situation. More and more consumers can only make plans for the given month, and apparently they will spend the winter holiday at home, preparing the traditional Christmas dishes and desserts themselves.”

Smoke is trendy

In the last season Kotányi’s best-selling products were the spice mixes for classic meat dishes, such as the Crispy Fried Chicken spice mix. Kotányi Quick & Easy products debuted last year and they performed very well. This year the company added new products to this range, so in addition to salads and pastas, meat dishes can now also be prepared quickly and easily. This year’s most popular products among gourmet consumers are smoked salt and black pepper, which deliver a really special flavour experience. Smoke is trendy now, so new smoked products can be expected from the company in the future. In the last quarter of the year many Kotányi products will already be present on store shelves with a new packaging design.

In addition to traditional tastes, there is a constant demand for diversity and innovation

Sugar: Only as much as it is necessary

At the end of 2021 one of Dr. Oetker’s top products was Dr. Oetker Dried Rye Sourdough, sales of which grew parallel to the growing popularity of home bread baking. The company’s other very successful product was low-sugar Home Made Krémes Cream Mix. Dr. Oetker has also launched Vanillin ZERO, a sugar-free vanilla sugar product made with erythritol. It contains the same amount of vanilla as classic Dr. Oetker Vanilla Sugar, and it can be used just as widely by health-conscious consumers. In the winter holiday period consumer demand surges for seasonal products such as Meringue Base Mix or Gingerbread Mix – these are only available in this period.

Diversification of portfolios may be a response to the changes in shopping considerations

Seasonal specialties