STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 47 in recent years has strengthened its positions in the local market, planning further expansion. Accord- ing to an interview with Massimo Pepe, Director of Eastern European and Export Markets at La- vazza in Forbes Hungary, the company plans to double its business and increase its market share in Hungary over the next 3 years. Pepe stated, the local market "is characterized by a developed and strong competitive situation." He also added although Lavazza's brand aware- ness is 78% on the Hungarian market, the compa- ny's strategy aims to further increase brand aware- ness and emphasize the premium added value of the products. He continues: "Hungary plays a key role in our European strategy. We work hand in hand with our local partners to further strengthen our presence and promote Italian coffee culture." In general, the retail sector provides the big- gest opportunities for growth both for local cof- feemakers and global companies, operating in the Hungarian market. According to experts of the Hungarian Vilag Gazdasag business paper, this year the retail sec- tor will continue to show stable growth rates in terms of coffee sales, with simultaneous recovery of the coffee shop market, which significantly suf- fered during the pandemic. The rise of the To Go coffee market helped a lot. Coffee chains began marketing their own- branded, self-packaged ground and whole bean coffee, with much greater success. The Hungarian consumer typically drinks espresso (which is regularly consumed by more than 48% of Hungarian people) but does not vary much in terms of flavor. Budapest, the capital of Hungary, currently has the largest number of coffee shops and remains the center of coffee consumption in the country. Despite rising coffee prices, Hungarians still prefer premium quality coffee over more affordable brands. Photo courtesy Coca Cola HBC. Coca Cola HBC invested HUF 50 million in the Accademia Vergnano Budapest, which offers 300 courses and opened in 2022. Photo courtesy Coca Cola HBC. The retail sector provides the biggest opportunity for growth in the Hungarian coffee market. After the pandemic many TO GO coffee chains began successfully packaging and marketing their own ground and whole coffee beans. In 2020, the per capita coffee consumption in Hungary was 2.7 kilograms per year and, according to predictions of local producers and analysts, it will in- crease up to 2.9 kilograms by 2025. The segment of capsule coffee and specialty coffee in general will act as major growth drivers of the market for the next 1-2 years. As for capsule coffee, the segment began to grow in Hungry in 2018, when products of well-known global brands appeared on the local market. Still, there is a possibility that implementation of these plans may be prevented by increasing coffee prices in the local market, which in the last several years have almost doubled, compared to the period of 2020-2021, while growth is currently ongoing.

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