‘Changing trends and opportunities in the confectionery industry.’

AUTHENTICITY

It is noticeable that the consumer demand for sugar-free diets is leaning towards a desire for authenticity, which mainly requires sweets to be authentic: with natural ingredients, no artificial additives and preservatives, and the products are preferred to have a low quantity of sugar instead of sweeteners.

ORIGINALITY AND SIMPLICITY

The informed consumer wants to understand what they are consuming and therefore appreciates not only authenticity but also simplicity and clarity in a positive sense, which is a trait of good quality and not over-sophisticated confectionery. Perhaps the closest example is the world-conquering Italian cuisine: simple yet delicious foods made from fresh, natural ingredients.

INDIVIDUALIZATION – AT MASS LEVEL

Manufacturing technology will enable the contradictory ‘mass individualization’ that can efficiently produce products and / or packaging tailored to the smallest groups or even individuals.

TRADITION AND INNOVATION

Consumers appreciate trusted brands with deep traditions, which provide a very strong basis in an environment where the level of trust in institutions, companies and politics has drastically declined. From this point of view, the confectionery market is well-positioned because practically everyone loves sweets. For this reason, strong brands and perceptions with continued traditions (e.g. Swiss chocolate, Belgian praline, French dessert, and Scandinavian biscuits) may continue to be well-received. In addition, the need for novelty also creates opportunities for confectionery manufacturers, which may not necessarily mean changing old products, but rather developing new products according to the previous considerations.

THE CHALLENGES OF THE INDUSTRY

Can we be disruptive with a product such as chocolate? Beyond product-level innovations (e.g., sugar formula, ruby chocolate, superfood), the innovation in manufacturing (individualisation) and consumer relations (channels and communication) can be a significant differentiator. This is especially true for traditional products where consumers appreciate originality.

We are a volume industry; how can we profit from this? New, highly flexible technologies can offer many opportunities to improve the consumers’ perception of us. It has to be accepted at some level that confectionery, even its premium segment, is manufactured for a great number of people.

Convenience, with a good conscience – isn’t this contradictory? The trendy consumer wants to obtain the confectionery produced for them in the most convenient way (channels), to consume it in the most comfortable way (packaging), enjoy it as much as possible (recipe, originality), all this with a good conscience (knowing what they eat fits within a healthy diet, and is also environmentally sustainable). These at times conflicting needs will not be easy to meet.

What does the food gap hold for us? The conscious consumer with a high standard of living, who buys premium products and is open to innovation and appreciates tradition, is only one segment of the market. What does a person living on the less fortunate side of life consume? We have to trust that with the spread of education and the expansion of the middle classes, more and more people will be able to afford high quality food, including confectionery, prompted not only by their wallets, but also by their needs. The industry can play a role in shaping this point of view.

Will quality food be a status symbol? However, as food becomes more expensive due to environmental changes and the climate emergency, good food is expected to become a status symbol that only the more fortunate will be able to afford. And if high-quality food is to be considered a luxury, the industry will find it difficult to avoid high-quality manufacturers becoming similarly divisive as other luxury product manufacturers.

TOBLERONE

Thanks to Mondeléz and the Swiss Federation, the Toblerone factory was introduced to the participants of the general assembly. Toblerone is one of the best examples of a successful traditional – authentic – original category. Demand for premium products is so high that the plant is operating at full capacity. For more than a century, the famous triangular chocolate has been made with an essentially unchanged formula, exclusively in Switzerland, with Swiss alpine milk, Mexican honey and Californian almonds. Product development has seen the emergence of dark chocolate, fruity and bite-size products in recent decades. Most of the premium product sales are generated by airport boutiques, and Mondeléz has gradually withdrawn Toblerone from the low-cost stores where it used to be available. The factory near Bern operates in three shifts, almost fully automated, in an end-to-end closed system with minimal human intervention, at an extremely high rate of efficiency, and supplies the whole world with this sweet solely from this plant.

The Association held its H1 assembly on 21 May 2019. The General Meeting approved the financial statements for 2018, supported the signing of a Strategic Partnership Agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture, and transferred its headquarters to Dózsa György út 32. Budapest 1071. Invited speakers were Beáta Olga Felkai, Ministry of Agricukture – Head of Department; Bence Ignácz, General Director of Professions – Kecskemét Vocational Training Center and Ákos Dénes, Managing Director – Kockacsoki.

In the past year, the value of sold seasonal Easter sweets increased by 10% compared to growth expectations of 2-3%. This year, confectioners expect a further increase in the value of confectionery, while the volume of sweets sold may remain unchanged because consumers are increasingly choosing high quality or premium products, said Sándor Sánta, president of the Association of Hungarian Confectionery Manufacturers.

Every year, the demand for quality and premium sweets is constantly and gradually increasing in Hungary. More and more people are consciously choosing high added-value products made from excellent ingredients, including chocolate with a high cocoa content, wholemeal biscuits, soft gummy candy and special sweets such as one of last year’s hits: naturally ruby chocolate.

On the domestic market, consumers snack on nearly 800 tons of Easter sweets every year. The increase in this volume of confectionery is considered unlikely by the confectionery producers, but the increasing proportion of quality and premium products is all the more likely.

A novelty is the expansion of the ‘superfoods’ category. A small portion or a bite of products made from raw materials from natural, controlled sources is sufficient to provide the consumer with a range of valuable nutrients along with a moderate calorie intake.

For Easter, manufacturers also announced products such as the ruby chocolate egg, the chocolate bunny with a flavour reminiscent of cheesecake, and the chocolate squirrel enriched with hazelnuts roasted in different ways.

In the chips range sea salt, beetroot and ginger flavours have been introduced to meet consumer demands, and in some countries sweet potato chips are also available: customers can also choose salty caramel and even chocolate chips. Since sweet chips are less suited to Hungarian taste, nobody is likely to meet such products here, but the fresh “wallops” craze is expected to reach us. Wallops is a three-layered snack, served ice-cold, with ice cream inside, encased in a crunchy biscuit layer and coated in delicious dark chocolate.

Pairing different flavours, and thus amping up the experience, has come to the fore for many manufacturers, so sweets in coconut-caramel, coconut-almond, apple-lime or strawberry-peanut butter combinations can appear on the shelves in the near future.

In addition to the interior, a refined exterior is also important: the gift nature of many products is being enhanced, and manufacturers are issuing limited edition packaging and unique decorations. Renewal and innovation have become essential in the field of packaging too. Without modern packaging, it is unthinkable to market competitive products, even less to export them.

However, the decades-long domination of chocolate rabbits and chocolate eggs has not halted with the novelties. These two figures make up about 80% of the entire Easter confectionery market, which is no wonder, as the egg, being the symbol of rebirth and the rabbit have the strongest ties to the Easter culture of traditions. Contrary to the unresolvable chicken-egg dilemma, in this case the priority can be established. The egg came earlier than the rabbit because the egg was already a part of Christian culture from the 12^th century onwards while the association of the rabbit with Easter came some 300 years later as part of an unclear German-origin tradition, spread by German craftsmen and settlers around the world.