Eastern Europe

Retail volume sales of gum have been restored after the losses suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, with sales coming back to more stagnant growth in 2023. By comparison, current value growth continued in double-digits thanks to retail price…

Gum is expected to register modest volume growth in 2023, as consumers lead busy lives and often use gum as a breath freshener. In addition, gum is particularly popular among smokers, to remove any bad breath.

Chewing gum saw a second year of decline in retail volume terms in 2023, albeit to a lesser extent than the previous year. Sales of chewing gum remain largely impulse-driven and with more Hungarians working from home, at least on a hybrid basis, they…

In the past few years, gum has experienced significant setbacks, with annual volume sales declining from between 5 and 23% during this period. The COVID-19 pandemic had a particularly negative impact on the gum category, but this was followed by a…

While gum is expected to register an increase in current value sales, constant value sales are expected to fall, due to high inflation. Volume growth is also expected to be marginal. Gum is gradually losing popularity and it increasingly gets bad…

The persistent inflation and rising production costs in 2024 are significantly impacting gum sales in Croatia. As prices remain elevated, consumer spending on non-essential items like gum has seen a slight decrease. However, brand loyalty remains a…

Gum continues to see steady growth in retail volume terms in 2024, although growth has been stronger in current value terms which is due to price inflation. Gum is entirely an imported product and thus it has been impacted by higher transportation…

Gum in Bosnia faces a challenging reality in 2024. Consumer demand continues to dwindle due to a shrinking population base. This demographic decline translates to a moderate decrease in retail volume. Even with rising unit prices caused by inflation,…

Forecourt retailers is maintaining solid growth, after recovering from its declines during the era of pandemic restrictions. Within this environment, in March 2023, it was revealed that MOL Group has sold 39 service stations to Shell in Slovenia, as…

New store openings within the modern grocery retailers channel helped fuel growth in current value terms in 2022, albeit the number small local grocers and food/drink/tobacco specialists declined. For example, Delhaize Serbia, the second largest…

In 2022, though there was healthy growth in current value sales, constant value sales fell. The war in Ukraine had a negative impact, with the resultant energy crisis leading to soaring inflation and dampening volume sales. In addition, there was…

The war in Ukraine has had a profound impact on grocery retailers in Lithuania during 2022. As a result of the conflict, grocery prices have increased significantly, and the consumer base has grown due to refugees from Ukraine. This has led to an…

Grocery retailers saw strong current value growth in 2022. As the situation stabilised with the reduced threat of Coronavirus (COVID-19), smaller formats like food/drink/tobacco specialists, small local grocers and convenience stores also started to…

The war in Ukraine has impacted grocery retailing in Georgia with inflation contributing to price increases across the category. Georgia’s growing consumer base in 2022 has added further impetus to retail value growth. Georgia has been a popular…

While grocery retailers in Estonia showed a markedly improved performance in terms of overall current value sales growth in 2022, this was mainly due to soaring inflation fuelled by the global recovery from the pandemic and the fallout of Russia’s…

In light of inflationary pressures, consumers have become increasingly discerning and cost-conscious in 2022. Grocery retailers have navigated this more complex climate by implementing various measures to address changing preferences, such as…

In 2022, though there was double-digit growth in current value sales, growth in constant value sales

General merchandise stores in Ukraine is dominated by variety stores, which continued to weather the challenges of trading during a full-scale war better than many other types of retailers in 2023. This was mainly because their offer of wide ranges…

General merchandise stores in the Czech Republic, which comprises department stores and variety stores, experienced weaker value growth in 2023. Department stores in Czech Republic continue to lose appeal among locals. As it stands, there are…

TEDi Betriebs sro, with a majority of standalone outlets, remained the leading player in general merchandise stores in 2022 and was followed by Tchibo Slovensko. The latter focuses on marketing and promotions and runs weekly discounts on a limited…

In 2023, general merchandise stores in Romania were represented in totality by variety stores. However, variety stores is an underdeveloped retail channel, which remains unfamiliar to most local consumers. Variety stores have never really developed…

In 2023, general merchandise stores recorded strong current value sales growth. Much of this stemmed from the strong performance of variety stores, which in keeping with its performance throughout the review period, recorded high double-digit growth…

General merchandise stores saw declining sales in Hungary in 2023, due to the low levels of activity in the category. It is also well consolidated, with Ecofamily (Napcsillag Kft) holding just under half of all brand share. Indeed, Ecofamily has…

Muted performance for general merchandise in 2023

Gardening registered strong growth in current value terms in Ukraine in 2023 despite economic challenges. With decreasing purchasing power impacting households, many turned to planting gardens as a practical and cost-effective way to supplement their…

Gardening registered double-digit growth in current value terms across all categories in 2023, with more consumers becoming aware of the available products on the market. Retailers have been offering an increasingly diverse array of products, both in…

The gardening market in Poland proved to be more resilient than other categories in 2023, with high single-digit growth in current value terms. In a challenging macroeconomic environment, characterised by high inflation and a contracting housing…

Full-service restaurants saw a partial recovery in 2023 but sales remained well below 2021 levels as many operators continued to struggle due the difficult conditions in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion. Their higher menu prices compared to…

In keeping with the trend evident across the wider Czech foodservice market, full-service restaurants experienced a dramatic slowdown in current value sales and transactions in 2023 as soaring inflation continued to place upward pressure on menu…

In spite of continuing high inflation, full service restaurants registered double-digit constant value growth. The announcement that the reduced 10% VAT rate, which was introduced during the pandemic, was going to be permanent, boosted the sector.…

The results of full-service restaurants in 2023 were impacted by the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in 2022, leading to a rise in eating out and consumers returning to the foodservice experience. However, high inflation continued to impact results,…

While full-service restaurants in Poland continued to post growth in current value sales in 2023, this was primarily due to price hikes imposed to offset rising costs amidst stubbornly high inflation. Transactions declined slightly as falling…

Operational and raw material costs have soared in 2022-2023, pushing up the average price of meals prepared in full-service restaurants. The escalation in menu prices has often surpassed 30% in contrast to recent years. This price differential seen…

In 2023, full-service restaurants continue to recover from the devastating losses registered during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the strong double-digit value growth is largely the result of rising unit prices and inflation. For a growing number…

In 2023, the fragrances category was recording strong growth, albeit following a sharp downturn in sales a year earlier, when sales shrunk by around half. The fragrances performance has begun to recover as life has normalised in some parts of Ukraine…

Fragrances saw further current value growth in the Czech Republic in 2023, with volume sales falling as consumers paid higher prices but left with fewer items in their shopping baskets. The overall positive performance was driven by premium…

In 2023, the ongoing return to socialising outside the home both at work/school and whilst doing activities had a positive impact on the performance of fragrances in Slovenia. Fragrances are considered an essential accessory by Slovenians, and the…

Premium fragrances recorded high single-digit current value growth in 2023, with retail volume sales being notably slower and impacted by stubbornly high inflation. Mass fragrances declined in in both retail value and volume terms, with economic…

Fragrances in Serbia in 2023 showcased stable performance but encountered notable challenges. A significant development was observed with drugstore chains like Dm introducing low-cost fragrances within their product offerings. Similarly, the…

In 2023, fragrances in Romania continued to experience current value growth, although volume sales maintained their declining trend. This phenomenon was attributed to consumers’ willingness to pay higher prices for fragrances, resulting in fewer…

Although retail volume growth stalled in 2023, fragrances witnessed robust current value growth across all categories in Poland in 2023, driven by rising prices. Evolving consumer motivations were seen for fragrances post-COVID-19. Beyond seduction…

Overall , it was a muted picture for fragrances in North Macedonia in 2023, with both constant value sales and overall volume sales falling. Continuing high inflation and population decline dampened value sales. Premium outperformed mass, with volume…

In 2023, sales demonstrated another outstanding year in Lithuania with strong double-digit retail value growth and strong retail volume growth in all areas, bar men's mass fragrances and mass fragrance sets/kits.

Fragrances in Latvia registered a much slower performance in 2023 compared to previous years. Although fragrances are considered a staple item for the majority of consumers, demand weakened for several reasons. Economic uncertainty remained strong in…

Mass fragrances experienced double-digit growth in current value terms in 2023 due to significant price hikes, although growth remained lower compared to premium fragrances due to the price sensitivity of the target customer group for these products.…

It was a positive year for fragrances in Georgia in 2023, with similar healthy volume growth both for premium and mass fragrances, though volume growth was lower than the previous year. Price sensitive consumers, especially in the mass segment, opted…

In 2023, fragrances in Estonia recorded double-digit retail value growth, driven by the premium segment. While retail volume growth was positive in all areas of premium fragrances, mass fragrances declined, with mass fragrance sets/kits recording…

Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were few differences between sales growth trends across premium fragrances and mass fragrances. However, since volume sales of premium fragrances dropped sharply in 2020 during the early stages of…

Fragrances in Bulgaria was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and whilst sales have begun to bounce back, overall volume and value sales have yet to be restored to 2019 levels. The lifting of all pandemic restrictions during 2022 resulted in…

Consumers have returned to wearing fragrances with social contact largely back to normal levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After a solid recovery from the pandemic in 2021, retail volume growth declined in 2022 and 2023 as consumers were confronted…