Impact of the "Quality Food from Hungary" brand on the competitiveness of Hungarian food industry

Abstract

It is a generally known fact that Hungarian products are at a disadvantage in Western markets, since a certain part of foreign customers have not yet heard of Hungarian products. Many of them believe that products made in Eastern Europe are cheap and of poor quality. How could they possibly know Hungarian products, if national food producers and traders can only invest a minimal amount to promote their products? Food producers in EU countries spend far much more to market their products than their fellows in Hungary. The Community strategy for agricultural marketing has been aimed at counterbalancing this tendency.
In 1998, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development launched the “Quality Food from Hungary†trademark with the aim of distinguishing top quality food products from other products. The role of the quality trademark is to inform and protect the customers. The trademark makes the customers aware of the fact that the concerned food product differs from other products, and it also protects the customer, since both the producer and the certifying authority assume the responsibility for the controlled top quality of the product. In order to obtain the “Quality Food from Hungary†trademark, the raw materials, ingredients, the manufacturing process and the final product shall exceed the criteria stipulated within the effective food regulations. The basic requirement for awarding the right to use the trademark is the quality of the product, but the quality of its packaging is also taken into consideration and shall not only reflect the quality from an aesthetic point of view, but it shall also facilitate storage, transportation and utilisation.