Magazine: New regulation brings improvement

In August 2017 the new Hungarian Food Book entered into force, which specifies the minimum meat and mechanically deboned meat contents of meat products – in the wiener/frankfurter category the former is 51 percent and the latter is 10 percent. Thanks to the changes in the regulation certain – typically poultry – products can’t be sold under the ‘wiener/frankfurter’ name any more.

Zoltán Szántó
senior product manager
Pick Szeged

Zoltán Szántó, senior product manager of Pick Szeged Zrt. informed us that the market share of products made from pork had increased a little. Volume sales stayed put last year but value sales were up nearly 7 percent.

Erzsébet Szalayné Szilvágyi
sales manager 
Sága Foods

We learned from Erzsébet Szalayné Szilvágyi, sales manager of Sága Foods Zrt. that the new rules didn’t have a negative effect on their sales. According to Krisztina Bódi, marketing director of Kométa 99 Zrt., 2017 was a superb year for the company and the new regulation meant no change for the company, as their standards in production had already been higher before the changes were made in the food book.

Éva Tamáskovitsné Gila
marketing manager
Gyulahús

Éva Tamáskovitsné Gila, marketing manager of Gyulahús Kft. told Trade magazin that their wieners/frankfurters had been made with the now required higher meat content already before the new rules took effect. Zsolt Kazai, sales manager of Wiesbauer-Dunahús revealed that in spite of the fact that they had increased prices, sales didn’t suffer. Wiesbauer wieners/frankfurters had also met the new quality requirements before the changes in the food book.

Szilvia Dandé, marketing manager of Kaiser Food Kft. told: the company’s experience is that the market share of pre-packaged products is growing to the detriment of wieners/frankfurters sold from the deli counter. Recently sales of 330-480g products have been growing the fastest. Mr Szántó reported to us that among retail channels it is still discount supermarkets where the most wiener/frankfurter products are sold – they have a 40-percent share in sales, followed by hypermarkets at 22 percent.

András Garai
marketing manager
Gallicoop

András Garai, Gallicoop Zrt.’s marketing manager opines that those products are the most popular which don’t qualify as wiener/frankfurter and premium products also sell well. Demand for medium-price products decreased. Although 40 percent of value sales are realised by private label products, companies don’t stop innovating. János Weisz, commercial director of Pápai Hús Kft. let us know that new products keep appearing in the market, and even on-the-go type wieners and frankfurters are available.

PICK SZEGED Zrt. manufactures branded products (PICK, HERZ, FAMÍLIA) using only pork or beef ingredients. The company’s most important innovation this year is PICK PICKOLINO. This pork wiener was launched in May, its taste is pleasantly smoky, with harmonic spicing. The product is available in 140g vacuum-packed variant, with a 60-day shelf life. PICK PICKOLINO doesn’t contain flavour enhances and it is gluten- and lactose-free. Soon Pick Szeged Zrt. will put the 280g, family-size version of PICKOLINO on the market, plus PICKOLINO CHEESE will also appear on store shelves.

The Füstli products of Sága Foods are one of the top brands in the wiener/frankfurter market, sales of which grew by two-digit numbers last year. New products were added to the portfolio of the umbrella brand, such as turkey wiener Bécsi Ínyenc and BBQ Füstli. The company had originally intended to sell the latter in the barbecue season only, but it became so popular that it stayed in shops. Sága products received a new packaging in spring. This autumn the company will put a new product range on the market, which targets health-conscious shoppers.

János Weisz
sales director
Pápai Hús

The majority of Pápai Hús Kft.’s sales is realised by wiener/frankfurter in sheep casing (Pápai Juhbeles products). Volume sales are growing year after year and new Pápai Hús products will hit the shops already this year. In its innovation work the company focuses on both more expensive premium products and affordable ones as well.Besides Pápai Juhbeles, Bakonyi wiener is another popular product of the company. In marketing these two products will be in the spotlight, but Pápai Hús will also put great emphasis on familiarising shoppers with new products.

Krisztina Bódi
marketing director
Kométa

Demand for Kométa wieners and frankfurters is growing in every retail channel. The company only uses the best ingredients in production and they never stop innovating. Recently they have cut the salt content of products marked with a blue label by 25 percent, while product taste remained the same. This year three new products will come out in the wiener range, Bécsi: horseradish, cheese and peeled wieners are going to be launched. The new products are also characterised by reduced salt content.

Gallicoop Zrt. sold 300 tons of turkey wiener in 2017. Sales at the end-of-year period exceed the average by 15-20 percent. In the premium category the company is present with high quality frankfurter and peeled, smoked wiener, while in the value for money category they market Gallicoop Fincsli products. The company senses growing demand for additive-free products, therefore innovation work is going in this direction. They are about to introduce two new products to the market: a premium quality cracking wiener and an E-free product.

Zsolt Kazai
slaes manager
Wiesbauer-Dunahús

Last December Wiesbauer-Dunahús increased sales from the December level in the previous year by more than 15 percent. The company’s wiener product in sheep casing, called Bécsi, has remained popular, and sales of the peeled frankfurter are growing dynamically. This year they came out with a product that is unique in Hungary: Light wiener contains 30 percent less fat and it is available in 170g size. Wiesbauer-Dunahús has also put the 170g version of the popular veal wiener on the market – formerly it was only available in 800g variant.

Szilvia Dandé
marketing manager
Kaiser Food

At the end of last year sales of Kaiser Food Kft.’s wiener and frankfurter products augmented by 10 percent. They are preparing for this year’s high season at the end of the year with new innovations in the category. The plan is to enter segments where they haven’t been present before. Sales will be supported with in-store activities and an online campaign.

Gyulahús Kft.’s liver paté and wiener/frankfurter products are gluten- and lactose-free. In its innovation work the company makes great efforts to use as few additives as possible. They adopt new technological solutions instead, and come out with new products by using these. Gyulahús Kft. manufactures both branded and private label wieners and frankfurters. These products are sold in bulk and in 180g and 360g pre-packaged variants. //