Expanding cereal crop circles

2019 was a good year for cereal products, but we might be surprised if we take a closer look.

Levente Németh
marketing manager
Nestlé Hungária

For instance Levente Németh, marketing manager of Nestlé Hungária Kft. informed our magazine that sales of cereal and muesli bars dropped in comparison with 2018. At the same time breakfast cereal, muesli and natural cereal product sales showed strong improvement, with an 8.2-percent combined sales growth in value and plus 4 percent in volume. Private label (PL) products and discount supermarkets play an important role in the cereal market.

Balázs Mészáros
sales manager
Cerbona

We learned from Balázs Mészáros, sales manager of Cerbona Zrt. that it is key to find a healthy balance between manufacturer brands and PL products.

Cocoa, chocolate and cinnamon are the most popular breakfast cereal flavours. In the muesli segment, the fruits, chocolate, and fruits and nuts variants are the best-sellers. Plain muesli product sales grew, in line with the current health trend. At the same time plain product sales dropped in the breakfast cereal category. Discount supermarkets keep increasing their share in sales, but drugstores are also performing well, mainly in the muesli and cereal/muesli bar categories.

Nestlé’s marketing manager talked to our magazine about how sales of the star categories of recent years continued to develop strongly, but at a slower rate than before. For instance, porridge products used to double sales, but last year they ‘only’ produced a 13-percent sales growth, according to Nielsen. Porridges entered the Hungarian market with a bang 5 years ago, and today they realise two-thirds of sales in the muesli market. Last year Nestlé put three Nesquik Porridge products on the market, in plain, banana and apple flavours.

Dénes Kiss
marketing manager
Dr. Oetker
Magyarország

Dr. Oetker was also focusing on the porridge segment last year. Dénes Kiss, marketing manager of Dr. Oetker Magyarország Élelmiszer Kft. told: their success was the result of the combination of several factors. These products are convenient, healthy, they provide energy, lots of flavours are available and porridges are affordable. The most popular Dr. Oetker Vitalis Porridge variant is chocolate. Vitalis products are available in classic, sugar-free and protein versions. Another promising sub-category in the market is granolas, where value sales augmented by more than 10 percent last year – revealed Levente Németh. It is noteworthy that PL product sales jumped 25 percent in both value and volume, while sales of branded granolas grew in value but fell nearly 10 percent in volume.

In March Nestlé rolled out Cheerios Oat breakfast cereals in plain (with 91-percent oat content) and apple-cinnamon (with 85-percent oat content) variants. Also in the spring the company appeared on store shelves with two new granola products. The latest members of the Fitness family are the honey and cranberry-pumpkin seed Fitness Granolas. More new products will follow this year, mainly in the breakfast cereal and cereal bar categories.

Last year Cerbona product sales increased in basically all categories. Gluten-free products performed exceptionally well and sales jumped 10 percent in the energy bar category. Mr Mészáros said: in 2019 they rolled out 2 gluten-free breakfast cereal and 2 gluten-free oat bars, and soon they will introduce 2 gluten-free porridges to the market. A new-type Cerbona product called Raw Bar will also enter the market, and porridge with added protein has been launched in the Sport range. Cerbona completed building a new warehouse and they are now building the Cerbona Solar Park, which will contribute to the country’s energy use with renewable energy.

Rita Habuda-Salyámosy
marketing manager
Glatz Hungary

In 2019 sales of Emco muesli and muesli bar products grew again, mainly thanks to HoReCa products, gluten-free crunchy mueslis and various healthy bar products – we learned from Rita Habuda-Salyámosy, marketing manager of Glatz Hungary Kft. Bars are much more important in Emco sales than before because the company has launched several new innovative variants. Among nut bars, pistachio and cashew are the most popular, while chocolate reigns in the gluten-free muesli bar segment. Every Emco nut and muesli bar is gluten-free, protein bars contain 25-percent plant-based protein and last year Emco debuted with protein bars that contain no added sugar. //