Ed Haas expands Pez production capacity in Hungary
A new plant, construction of which cost €3.5m, is employing 100 workers, and annual production of the group’s trademark PEZ peppermint confectionery range is expected to be in the region of 2,000 metric tonnes.
The green-field project is said to also include a 6,000m2 logistics centre.
Ed Haas occupies fifth position in the sugar confectionery market in Hungary, as it also distributes a number of leading brands from Perfetti Van Melle, including its Mentos branded mints and Alpenliebe sugar-free sweets.
The leader in the category is local producer, Gyori Keksz, a company that holds a 15 per cent share. Its aniseed flavoured brand leads the Hungarian market for medicated sweets.
Multinationals such as Nestlé and Haribo also produce sugar confectionery in the country with Nestlé’s Hungarian unit having an 11 per cent share of the market. It occupies third position in the rankings after domestic supplier Sweet Point, said Leatherhead Food International.
Wrigley’s Hungarian unit is said to have increased its share of the market in recent years but relies on imports instead of output from a domestic facility, continued the market researchers in an overview of the Hungarian sugar confectionery sector.
The UK organisation notes that local production of gums and fruit jellies in particular has been rising in recent years, with jellies representing one of the cheapest forms of sugar confectionery in Hungary, add the market researchers.
Leatherhead observes that other countries in central and eastern European regions are the principal outlet for boiled sweets and other sugar confectionery exports from Hungarian manufacturers.
Slovakian confectionery company, IDC, also has a presence in Hungary and exports its Verbena branded medicated sweets to the Czech Republic and Poland from there.
