The top-quality domestic products of small Hungarian enterprises, producers, artisanal companies, small wineries and breweries are now available not only in six regions of the country, but also in Budapest, and are now available on the shelves of SPAR Hungary stores in the framework of the Regional Treasures programme.

“When we launched the Regional Treasures initiative in 2021, our aim was to bring Hungarian small producers and consumers closer together. For this purpose, we provided market access for family enterprises that can continuously supply their high-quality products from within a few tens of kilometres of the respective regional centres of SPAR Hungary, shortening transport chains and generating as little environmental impact as possible. Feedback over the past two years has shown that consumers like these unique, typically small-series food products, and we have created opportunities for businesses to showcase their products not only in small farmers’ markets, but also to a wider audience as partners of one of Hungary’s largest domestic retail chains. The initiative has also helped many of them to reach foreign markets through the additional skills and experience they have gained through our mentoring programme and by working together. We are pleased to announce that the Regional Treasures network has been extended to Budapest and is now complete,” explained Mark Maczelka, head of communications at SPAR Hungary.

From cold-pressed oils, craft beers and wines to various jams, pickles, dairy products, pastas and biscuits, more than 400 products from 86 suppliers are available – with a constantly renewed assortment – in different regions of the country within the framework of the programme. Of these, 56 products of 12 partners form the permanent assortment of the Budapest region, available in 13 SPAR supermarkets and 7 INTERSPAR hypermarkets in the capital and its vicinity.

The Regional Treasures programme, which is best recognised by the “red apple” logo in supermarkets, has been launched in 2021, with the Székesfehérvár region joining the initiative first, followed by Zalaegerszeg and Hódmezővásárhely. One year later, in 2022, the network was expanded to include the regions of Pécs, Nyíregyháza and Győr. The companies participating in the programme to support small producers and businesses throughout the country employ a total of more than 600 people, generate jobs in small regions where larger enterprises are rarely present.

For detailed information about the Regional Treasures programme please visit the following link: https://www.spar.hu/regiokkincsei

Founded in 2018, Proworx Digital Ltd. provides support to its customers with its proprietary software products for a wide range of marketing communication activities, but also offers a market leader software for communication asset management.

Their latest development, Kingfisher, focuses on the area of ​​sustainability: it is a software platform that supports companies’ sustainability assessment and supplier sustainability due diligence/assessment.

As a company dealing with digitization, it is also focused on creating a framework for sustainable operations in its own operations. In 2024, they plan to compile their carbon catalog, calculate their carbon footprint and create a carbon neutrality action plan. In terms of their own emissions, last year they switched from gas heating to electricity.

They joined BCSDH because their activities directly support sustainability, so they are keen to build further relationships where there is scope for digitisation in relation to sustainability, and they are also keen to learn about sustainability best practice.

SPAR Hungary’s most outstanding brands, its sustainability and waste reduction efforts, as well as the health-conscious products have recently been recognised with prestigious awards. The company has also been awarded the Reliable Workplace acclaim.

Superbrands awards for the SPAR, INTERSPAR and Regnum brands

In 2023, the company received Superbrands awards in three categories: the SPAR brand won the prestigious Superbrands award for the 15th time this year, INTERSPAR for the 8th time and Regnum for the 3rd time. After multi-stage screening, the award is given based on the evaluation of an independent panel of 40 marketing experts and corporate executive professionals. This year, for the 19th time, they selected brands that can set an example for others to follow in successful brand-building.

“This recognition by Superbrands is special for us in two ways. On the one hand, it is professionally established feedback for which there is no application or application process, a panel of respected professionals in the industry decides and certifies the success and credibility of the brands. On the other hand, the fact that SPAR, INTERSPAR and Regnum have consistently and repeatedly won this prestigious award year after year is proof of our company’s unwavering commitment to quality and the trust our customers place in us,” explained Mark Maczelka, head of communications at SPAR Hungary.

Reliable employer acclaim

This year, for the first time, SPAR has been awarded the title “Reliable Employer 2023/24”. The award is presented by the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DUIHK) to companies that provide exemplary and reliable working and living conditions for their employees. The certificates were presented with Dr. Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office. The companies recognised with the reliable workplace award have transparent remuneration policies, active and up-to-date communication, and the evaluation also took into account the company’s salary and social benefits systems, measures to support the integration of employees, attention to the creation of healthy working conditions for employees, accident prevention, trainings, rewards for extra performance and talent management.

Recognition of environmental sustainability efforts

SPAR’s environmentally-conscious operation and commitment to sustainability was recognised again this year. The company was awarded the Greengage – Green Commitment Award for Environmentally-Responsible Business in the competition announced by the Professional Publishing Hungary publishing house. The aim of the competition is to seek and showcase successful companies in Hungary today that use environmentally-friendly methods to produce innovative products, sell services or support the market with their developments and processes.

Awards to private label innovations

Trade magazine’s “Inno d’Or – Innovation of the Year 2023” award is given to products that respond to changing consumer needs with a novel solution and innovation. Both “SPAR quick-frozen, ready-roasted, breaded chicken leg fillets” and “SPAR Zé salads” were awarded the “Inno d’Or – Innovation of the Year 2023” acclaim in the Food category, judged by a panel of 21 experts.

Trade magazine also announced the “Most Successful Promotion of the Year 2023” competition, one of the winners of which was the “SPAR and Street Kitchen present: Zé Fördős: Holidays from A to Z book”. Thanks to the collaboration between the company and Zé Fördős, the recipe book which offers simple but substantial and healthy dishes, was published last year before Christmas, enabling home-cooking enthusiasts to prepare their Christmas or New Year’s menus efficiently.

This year, Store Insider magazine has again announced its “Private Label Product of the Year” competition to recognise the best quality, innovative, flavourful and well-packaged own-brand products in food and non-food categories. The category winner of the “Private-Label Product of the Year 2023” competition was SPAR’s 400 g “HAZAI.SZERETEM veal liver pate with onions in way”, and the SPAR 230 g “Peeled Frankfurter sausage with cheddar cheese” was awarded the flagship product prize.

Premium Quality Food trademark

The Premium Quality Food mark is awarded to products that stand out from those on offer in the market. The awarding of the prize is preceded by a complex evaluation in several stages, during which experts carry out various measurements and packaging tests. Then the judges perform a quality evaluation of the products based on the criteria of flavour, smell, and texture. SPAR is proud that several of its products have been awarded the Premium Quality Food Mark this year, which can now be applied to numerous members of the SPAR HAZAI.SZERETEM range of products, including the mild salami (100g), the spicy salami (100g), the paprika salami (100g) and the mild and spicy salami mix (100g).

SPAR food industry manager honoured

Outstanding achievements in agriculture and the food industry were honoured at this year’s 15 March 1848 ceremony at the Hungarian Agricultural Museum. At the event, Ferenc Horváth, SPAR Hungary’s food industry manager, was presented with the Imre Ujhelyi Award by Dr. István Nagy, Minister of Agriculture, who stressed that in difficult times, we need people who set an example by trying to make the best of themselves and the assets entrusted to them.  Up to six people a year can be awarded this prize in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the fields of agriculture, food and agricultural education, for exemplary practices, modern methods and their dissemination in the sector, and for outstanding achievements in the field of technical development, modern production processes, development and introduction of new products in the food industry.

Ujhelyi Imre Díj átadása: a fotón balról Horváth Ferenc, a SPAR élelmiszeripari cégvezetője, jobbról Dr. Nagy István Agrárminiszter látható.

SPAR Hungary has been striving for years to minimise its impact on the environment in both its commercial operations and manufacturing processes, to protect employees and customers, to offer products from an increasing number of small and family-owned Hungarian companies and to pay attention to disadvantaged groups in the spirit of social responsibility. The company has published the results achieved in 2022 in a Sustainability Report. 

The sustainability activities of SPAR are guided by five main pillars: protection of the environment, food safety, promotion of healthy lifestyles, protection of employees and social responsibility. These key pillars are closely linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“We have kept focusing on the company’s sustainability vision even during a year of economic difficulties, such as 2022. SPAR aims to further deepen its commitment to sustainability in its relations with employees, customers and suppliers, in order to become Hungary’s leading retail chain addressing sustainability issues and challenges,” explained Gabriella Heiszler, President and CEO of SPAR Hungary, who is also responsible for the company’s sustainability activities.

Hungarian products, shorter supply chains

SPAR Hungary is committed to supporting small businesses in getting their products on the store shelves. This is achieved through the Hungaricool competition, organised for the fourth time in 2022, to which applicants can enter high-quality, newly-developed products manufactured in Hungary. The Regions of Treasures programme, launched in 2021, will also improve market access for small Hungarian producers. In order to reduce transport distances SPAR has set up centres in six cities – Nyíregyháza, Pécs, Győr, Székesfehérvár, Zalaegerszeg and Hódmezővásárhely – to provide supply outlets for micro and small enterprises in the region. The SPAR Supplier Academy also provides valuable professional skills and knowledge to step up the activities of the partner companies.

Less plastic and food waste

In the second half of last year, the company phased out single-use plastic bags from all its store fruit and vegetable departments, and from August 2022 it only offers customers biodegradable bags, reducing the amount of plastic entering the commercial cycle by around 450 tonnes per year.

SPAR is also committed to cutting food waste: in partnership with the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service, it distributes food donations that are fit for consumption but no longer available in stores due to their expiry date to those in greatest need. Within the framework of this cooperation, more than 32,000 kg of food was delivered to the charity service from 11 stores between September and December 2022.

From November 2022, 21 test stores started working with the Munch food-saving app (a Hungarian development), offering low prices on close-to-expiry products, thus preventing food waste.

The trial period has demonstrated the success of the campaign: in its first two months, November and December, nearly 10,000 kg of food has been saved.

Some key results from 2022:

– SPAR Hungary’s total energy consumption decreased by more than 3 percent compared to 2021. The company has started installing solar panels.

– The organisation’s volume of generated waste decreased by more than 2,200 tonnes (6.4 percent) compared to 2021.

– SPAR continues to expand the number of collection points for used cooking oil. The company also provides a map-based online search tool for the collection of sorted waste.

– By phasing out single-use plastic bags, the chain’s customers use around 450 tonnes less plastic each year when buying fruit and vegetables. Additionally: from May last year, paper bags are used for bakery products. In addition to the above, such products can be bought in their own packaging, in reusable bags or without packaging.

– The retail chain is reducing its plastic use by 84 tonnes per year with new packaging materials used in the logistics department.

– By 2022, the SPAR Lifestyle programme added more than 1,500 health-conscious and “free from” products to the Hungarian chain’s range.

– 90 percent of employees participated in the 2022 employee satisfaction survey. The corporation spent around 8.6 billion HUF on salary increases. Training hours per employee increased by more than 20 percent in 2022.

– SPAR Hungary spent more than HUF 244 million on charitable causes in 2022.

– The “Joy to Give!” (Adni Öröm!) Christmas fundraising campaign – which SPAR organised for the 26th time in 2022 in cooperation with the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service – made the holidays of 19,500 families more joyful. Through the cooperation with the charity, the customers helped 1,500 needy students start school with 58,000 school supply items and nearly HUF 2 million worth of donation cards.

– In the he “Paw in trouble!” (Mancs a bajban!) pet food collection campaign, volunteers collected more than 10,000 kilograms of dry dog food, nearly 2,000 kilograms of dry cat food, and 11,000 cans and pouches in stores last year.

In 2019, SPAR Hungary has organised its sustainability activities under the umbrella brand “SPAR – for a sustainable future”, and has made the objectives and results available to everyone on the www.sparafenntarthatojovoert.hu website.

Please find the full Sustainability Report at www.sparafenntarthatojovoert.hu/jelentes.

ALTEO will build a new solar power plant in Nógrád County, with its own investment and construction, following the approval of the Board of Directors. The development, worth more than EUR 17 million and capable of meeting the electricity needs of more than 10,000 households per year, will double the size of the company’s own solar power plant portfolio, which is listed in the premium category of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE).

Following the completion of the construction, which is expected to start in September, ALTEO’s 20 MWe solar power plant in Tereske, Nógrád County, is scheduled to start generating electricity in the second half of 2024. ALTEO acquired the solar power plant development project of Edelyn Solar Ltd. in 2022. In May 2023, the company informed investors that it had achieved a ready-to-build status, and now ALTEO’s board has approved the construction plans. The self-financed development will be able to produce 31 GWh of electricity per year, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of more than 10,000 households.

“The project is also of particular importance from a sustainability point of view, as energy will be generated entirely from solar radiation, as opposed to fossil fuels, so there will be no emissions of pollutants, unlike other power plants, and no need for drinking water during the plant’s planned lifetime of 25-30 years” said Attila Chikán Jr., CEO of ALTEO. The reversible design of the plant also serves sustainability: at the end of its total lifecycle, the entire infrastructure can be removed and the land occupied can be reused for agriculture.

The investment will naturally be integrated into ALTEO’s Renewable Regulation Centre, launched in May, 2023. “We also plan to integrate the new solar power plant in Tereske into ALTEO’s Renewable Regulation Centre, which will allow it to consolidate several smaller stand-alone generation units into one large power plant in the electricity and system services market. This will optimise generation alongside other weather-dependent power generators” the CEO added.