Eastern Europe

Recent years have witnessed a surge in sales in ready meals and soups in Poland, thanks to innovative product launches. Dobrowolscy, renowned for high-quality delicatessen products, introduced a line of ready meals, Dobrowolscy od Kuchni, featuring…

In 2023, meals and soups experienced continued robust retail volume growth, propelled by the solid performance of shelf-stable ready meals and frozen pizza. Despite being the largest category, soups faced a moderate decline due to shifting consumer…

Meals and soups is expected to register both current value and volume growth in 2023. With society fully opened up post pandemic, and consumers leading busy lives, they appreciate the convenience of meals and soups. Ready meals account for most value…

Meals and soup is expected to register double-digit current value growth, though constant value growth will be muted, as continuing high inflation eats into profit margins. All the same, there will be some volume growth. Growth is not expected to be…

Retail volume sales of meals and soups registered continued growth in 2023. With consumers leading increasingly busy lifestyles, there was a growing interest in convenient meal solutions, which boosted demand for products such as ready meals and…

Meals and soups in Georgia in 2023 is seeing the frozen ready meals segment maintaining its dynamic and robust presence, holding a substantial volume share of over 60%. This segment's dominance is a significant propellant for the broad spectrum of…

Chilled ready meals demonstrated the highest volume and value growth in 2023. These products became popular in Estonia following the lifting of pandemic quarantine restrictions and the return to work, with consumers opting for chilled ready meals as…

Growth in retail volume sales of ready meals in Croatia in 2023 looks set to be up substantially on 2022, with all categories expected to post improved results in this respect. This is mainly explained by the return to pre-pandemic routines, in that…

The Bulgarian market for meals and soups in 2023 remained nearly stagnant, with a slight negative trend, primarily driven by the increased frequency of dining out. The categories most affected by this shift were shelf-stable ready meals and dried…

Meals and soups recorded a moderately positive sales performance in retail volume terms over the course of 2023 as the category benefited from the rising demand for products that represent convenience for the local population. In particular, the…

In 2023, mass beauty and personal care in Ukraine was recording strong growth thanks to the affordability of these products against the backdrop of consumers’ falling purchasing power. The development of private label products has also contributed to…

Mass beauty and personal care saw current value growth in the Czech Republic in 2023. Brands and companies focused on adding extra value to boost sales, with some blurring the lines between the mass and premium segments. This was particularly visible…

Mass beauty and personal care registered a strong performance in 2023, driven by increased demand for cheaper products as high inflation prevailed in Slovenia. This development has positively impacted the performance of private label in recent years.…

Mass beauty and personal care in Slovakia recorded healthy growth in current value terms, albeit boosted by high inflation. In 2023, energy, transport and production costs remained high, which forced manufacturers to increase unit prices. Although…

The surge in mass beauty and personal care sales in Serbia during 2023 was primarily fuelled by a robust escalation in prices. This inflationary trend, coupled with heightened price sensitivity among consumers, prompted a notable transition across…

Continuing the trend from 2022, mass beauty and personal care saw dynamic current value growth in Romania in 2023. Mass brands remain the default choice for the vast majority of consumers across all beauty and personal care categories. Several…

Although growth was lower than premium beauty and personal care, mass beauty and personal care witnessed a second year of double-digit current value growth in Poland in 2023. High current value growth was seen across all mass beauty and personal care…

Mass beauty and personal care still accounted for significantly more value sales than premium in North Macedonia in 2023. However, with inflation still being high, there was only a slight increase in constant value sales, as rising costs hit profit…

In 2023, mass beauty and personal care products continued to drive the bulk of sales in Lithuania. Although retail value and volume growth is much lower than growth registered by the premium segment, mass items remain the core products demanded,…

Mass beauty and personal care remains the largest segment in Latvia. Despite the growing popularity of premium goods, the majority of consumers use mass products. Solid growth was posted by mass products in 2023, despite the ongoing financial…

Mass beauty and personal care registered dynamic double-digit growth in current value terms in 2023, albeit this was largely due to soaring inflation, with volume sales seeing more modest growth. High inflation and declining purchasing power resulted…

Mass beauty and personal care still accounted for significantly more value sales than premium in Georgia in 2023. However, its current value growth was lower. That being said, there was growth. Mass beauty and personal products are continually…

In 2023, retail value sales in mass beauty and personal care in Estonia recorded double-digit retail value growth. While this is below the value growth for premium offerings, the vast majority of sales are generated by mass products. Key areas for…

Mass beauty and personal care registered a positive performance in 2023, outperforming premium beauty and personal care as the uncertain economic situation, high inflation and ongoing energy crisis forced many Croatian consumers to look for cheaper…

Mass beauty and personal care in Bulgaria registered a positive performance in 2023. Whilst price increases fuelled some of this growth, the increased demand for more affordable products was also a factor as inflation remained stubbornly high. This…

Since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, mass beauty and personal care has steadily recovered in current value terms. In 2022, price increases were the primary driver of current value growth as inflation soared in Bosnia and Herzegovina.…

Growth in major appliances went into reverse in Eastern Europe in 2020 due to the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the measures taken to try and control its spread. In addition, consumers were increasingly looking for cheaper or economy products…

Retail current value sales of luxury goods in Romania rose by 12% in 2023 to stand at RON9.8 billion. There was a clear focus on recovery in the post-Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown period, with luxury shoppers keen to indulge in activities that may…

Although Ecuador is applying greater fiscal discipline, economic freedom remains constrained by state influence and a weak rule of law. Economic growth is set to slow further and reliance on commodity exports is very high, but inflation is relatively…

Luxury hotels see the slowest recovery due to a gradual return of foreign tourists to the Czech capital and growing inflationary pressure on overseas and domestic tourists, translating into lower spending power. The luxury category also shows the…

Lodging operators remain under intense pressure with regards to price in 2023. All operating expenses have increased at an unprecedented rate (well above the general inflation), putting upward pressure on lodging prices. With the cost of living…

The very favourable performance recorded in lodging in Romania during 2023 can be seen as the consequence of rising occupancy rate, which led directly to dynamic growth in room nights as well as spurring the development and opening of new hotels. The…

Lodging (destination) is recovering in Poland, with both opportunities and challenges seen. In fact, there are a number of challenges faced by those in the lodging industry in Poland. Notably, here we cite the weakened purchasing power of consumers…

Much like Budapest, smaller cities and regional areas in Hungary have witnessed significant increases in lodging supply in recent years, particularly since the easing of the pandemic and the ending of related restrictions. A key driver of growth in…

2023 saw many of Croatia’s lodging operators facing huge pressure on their margins as the impact of high inflation hit their cost structures from two angles. On the one hand, dramatic increases in the cost of fuel and numerous other inputs over the…

Lodging suffered significantly during the pandemic with the number of room nights booked and value sales dropping dramatically. Nonetheless, most lodging establishments and hotels managed to endure the crisis although many have been financially…

The Ljubljana in Slovenia report provides comprehensive city level information benchmarked against other cities in the country and region. The report includes historic data and forecasts on city population, consumer expenditure, digital penetration,…

After a brief period of expansion, depopulation will resume in Lithuania in 2023-2040, as net migration turns negative once more, and natural decrease continues. Ageing will accelerate, impacting consumer trends and placing increased pressure on…

Russia’s war in Ukraine has created challenging economic conditions and a difficult operating environment which has presented significant obstacles for players operating within limited-service restaurants. Sales plummeted in value and volume terms in…

Current value and transaction growth rates for limited-service restaurants in the Czech Republic in 2023 were down substantially on the previous two years. This was partly due to the stabilisation of consumption patterns following a post-pandemic…

While inflation remained high in 2023, government measures aimed at protecting the hospitality sector benefitted limited-service restaurants. In particular, the reduced 10% VAT rate (from a previous 20%), which was introduced during the pandemic, was…

The positive performance of limited-service restaurants in 2023 was aided by the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in March 2022, allowing limited-service restaurants to appeal through the convenience they provide. In addition, the high cost of living…

Limited-service restaurants in Poland saw growth in transactions and current value sales slow in 2023 as stubbornly high inflation continued to drive up menu prices and make consumers more cautious in their spending habits. However, the downturn was…

Soaring inflation pushed menu prices in limited-service restaurants to new highs in 2023, although operators are always careful when considering price adjustments, especially for their signature meals. Core target audiences, such as students and…

Although badly hit by Coronavirus (COVID-19), limited-service restaurants (LSR) was the least-impacted consumer foodservice channel by the pandemic in 2020. With takeaway and home delivery services either already in place or quickly added during…

With no pandemic-related movement and travel restrictions mandated by the government, foodservice continues to recover in 2023. Limited-services restaurants, in particular, are recording strong value growth as a result of strong and renewed consumer…

After 2022’s deep decline, liquid tablet detergents posted positive growth in terms of volume sales in 2023, with this attributed to its products’ efficient formulas and user-friendly attributes. Though growth was low, it was the fastest in the…

Retail value sales recorded double-digit growth in 2023, driven by rising price points in line with inflation. However, while value sales were strong, retail volume sales struggled, leading to an overall volume decline in laundry care. Declines were…

Laundry care emerges as one of the fastest-growing categories in home care, propelled by the increasingly busy and active lifestyles of consumers, leading to more soiled clothing. Fabric softeners witness significant growth within laundry care,…

Value growth in laundry care is being supported by inflationary price hikes, whilst volume sales remain in a decline. This is due to price-sensitive consumers budgeting in laundry care by using lower volumes of product per use, in addition to doing…