Organic Beverages in Hungary

PROSPECTS

Environmental concerns in wealthier segments create growing demand for clean eating and drinking

The spreading of health awareness is accelerating in Hungary. A high percentage of consumers read the food and drink labels and try to avoid products containing E-numbers, preservatives and artificial flavours.

Spreading premiumisation will increasingly benefit organic

Disposable income levels continue to increase, which generated greater demand for premium goods, also in food and drinks. It is trendy to go premium for those who can afford it.

Organic hot drinks and 100% juice the biggest growth areas

The fastest spread of organic products was in coffee, thanks to the widening range of brands and improving availability through online health food shops. In 2018 the best performers were organic instant coffee and organic chocolate-based powder drinks, which also became less expensive due to growing competition among internet retailers.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Local start-up activity does not yet threaten share of major established companies

Apart from a few strong brands and private label, the majority of organic beverages remained fragmented in 2018. There were numerous health food importers, distributors and shops, each of which specialised in some of their preferred brands.

Innovative health and wellness start-ups strengthen internet retailing channel

The number of internet retailing outlets in health and wellness continued to increase. Along with the established large health food portals, and retail chains’ new online stores (such as that of drugstore dm-Drogerie Markt), in 2018 several web shops started up online or widened their offer of health food and drinks, always including organic products.

Private label offer continues to widen and helps popularise organic beverages

Many consumers expressed interest in organic products but price remained the primary barrier to consumption. Hypermarket/supermarket chains (Spar, Interspar, Auchan, Tesco), drugstore chains (dm-Drogerie Markt and Rossmann) and discounters (Aldi and Lidl) responded by expanding their own ranges of organic products.

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