The best products of the Hungaricool competition have been announced – the winning items are already available on the shelves of the INTERSPAR stores

The fourth season of SPAR and K&H’s joint Hungaricool product competition has come to an end. The makers of the winning products are supported by the masterminds behind the initiative. SPAR Hungary joined by K&H this year, will provide the businesses with unique financial opportunities and advisory support. The goal of the competition is to strengthen Hungarian businesses by providing customers with new, quality products that are made in Hungary, which will be stocked on the shelves of the retail chain.

SPAR Hungary has been committed to boosting the Hungarian economy, helping local businesses and producers, and has been expanding their circle of local small-scale suppliers. The company launched the Hungaricool product competition back in 2019, which aims to find those Hungarian small-scale producers who are keen to enter the market with high quality products that are made in Hungary. These products could either be new innovations or if they exist already, they are not yet widely available in smaller retail chains. As part of the programme, the SPAR Supplier Academy and the best small business experts of the country provide continuous mentoring to the winners across sourcing, sales, quality management, marketing, logistics, and finances.

Thanks to the Hungaricool product competition, new Hungarian products have been added to the shelves of INTERSPAR hypermarkets yet again this year.

“Hungaricool is a success story. The recently completed fourth season saw 179 businesses enter the competition offering a total of 301 products. As a result of the previous success of the programme and the widespread marketing communications support which the company continuously provides, the product competition has become well-known among Hungarian businesses over the last four years. There are more and more dedicated and well-prepared applicants entering the competition. This is necessary indeed as SPAR has strict expectations for the products they will accept to place on their shelves. The winning products must achieve continuous success on the market and adjust to customer expectations. Applicants must be aware of marketability and small-scale trends as well as sustainability standards. Hungaricool is important for us as it is a tool to help Hungarian businesses advance. The winners get the chance to open a new distribution channel by partnering with SPAR Hungary, a stable and value-based company. At the same time customers will benefit too as they will be able to choose from quality products and can support local producers,” said Márk Maczelka, head of communications at SPAR Hungary.

K&H joined the Hungaricool competition in its fourth season as a financial advisor and took on the role to support the winners with custom financial advice, continuous mentoring, and financial aid in order to fulfil their pledge to SPAR and achieve long lasting success with their businesses, as well as become stable players in the market.

“Entering the programme is a big opportunity for businesses since they become known nationwide and will have the chance to significantly improve their sales if customers like their products. To have all this planned out, the financial education of these businesses who enter is vital. Business owners must understand their product sales numbers, the margins they can make on these, what costs and when they will have to incur compared to their profit. Based on these factors they will be able to predict if they will need external financial support to secure their ongoing liquidity and if they have the production capacity they need, or will need to invest in development,” emphasised Zoltán Rammacher, head of SME marketing and sales support at K&H.

Winners attended K&H’s two-day financial planning workshop and made themselves familiar with the details of business and financial planning and the bases of taxation and financing. They also had the opportunity to learn the details of external financial resources and bank funding at the SPAR Supplier Academy’s Marketing Bootcamp event. The knowledge they get might be essential for their products to become part of SPAR’s range, or to secure their daily financial liquidity. The financial resources provided by K&H were accessible to several businesses during the season which helped them to fulfil their commitments to SPAR and to manage to level up their businesses.

The production and INTERSPAR sales of the nine new brands and their 37 new products gives jobs to hundreds of employees including suppliers and enhances the will to enterprise for others. With this partnership SPAR and K&H sets a great practical example to encourage further innovations in Hungary. As part of the programme the long-term relationship with the store chain and the bank helps the dynamic advancement of these businesses as well as their ability to finding new markets.

The winners and the products available in INTERSPAR’s range are as follows:

Art Water Kft. – Fizz Water flavoured sparkling water in four different flavours
Disiteler Company Kft. – Wolf & Lamb herbal liqueur
Fragola Fagylaltozó Kft. – “Un Momento con Fragola” ice-creams in six flavours with three vegan options
Naturi Kft. – raw vegan, gluten, soy, sugar, milk, egg and lactose free crisps, biscuits and “living breads”
Trufo Hungary Kft.- mushroom antipasti, pesto products, and truffle olive oil
Vegán Mókus Kft. – Tunki-Tunki vegan dips in four flavours
Win One Kft. – Chocorich premium dark chocolate balls filled with pálinka fruit brandy in four flavours
Zimek Pálinka Manufaktúra – Mediterrán Gin, Carly’s Gin&Tonic in two flavours
Zucker Kft. cheesy snack baked with sesame, caraway seed and cheese

For more information on the winning products, you can visit the Hungaricool website: https://hungaricool.hu/gyoztesek

A győztes termékekről a Hungaricool honlapján lehet részletesebben tájékozódni: https://hungaricool.hu/gyoztesek