Sweeties have caught up with table chocolate

Retail sales of sweeties are growing dynamically. Value has grown by 13 per cent, while volume has increased by 19 per cent in the October 2005 – September 2006 period compared to the year. The total market is now more than HUF 14 billion. 401-25000 sqm stores have become the most important channel for sales, while hyper markets only come second now. This is partly due to the private labels of discount stores. Private labels accounted for 23 per cent of total sales last year, as opposed to 16 per cent a year before, and only 7 per cent two years before. 401-2500 sqm store have increased their market share by 6 per cent in a year at the expense of less than 400 sqm stores. Average consumer prices stagnated last year. Non-alcoholic sweeties accounted for 54 per cent of total sales, while mixed sweeties had 27 per cent and single type alcoholic sweeties 19 per cent. Non-alcoholic sweeties gained 4 per cent at the expense of the other two categories.