HIPP launches baby foods in Bulgaria

The company has been present on the Bulgarian market for a couple of years now with its HIPP and Kecskemeti product lines, which, according to the company, have been going from strength to strength in recent months.

The company says that the current strength of the brand name in Bulgaria has led to the decision to launch this third product line.

Much of this growth is on the back of a large scale marketing and advertising campaign in the country's capital, Sofia, which company representative Boris Manchev says has significantly boosted sales in the November and December period.

Currently HIPP products are distributed in Bulgaria by pharmaceutical group Commercial League - National Pharma Centre.

HIPP recently reported problems with it distribution supply in Bulgaria. The company said that the interruption was down to the approval of a number of its product lines as organic in Austria, which had caused a sudden surge in demand.

Currently HIPP​ baby food products are available in all Eastern European markets and are produced for that market from the company's manufacturing facility in Hungary. As well as the domestic market the company is also present in Austria, Belgium, France, Hungary, Israel, Luxembourg, Switzerland and has a major presence on the UK market.

Other baby food brands imported in Bulgaria include leading international brands such as Nestle, Gerber, Bibina, Heinz and Askon. The main local producers of sterilised baby food are Ganchev and BPC Niksi.

According to a recent survey Ganchev baby foods are the country's market leader with a 50 per cent market share, followed by HIPP with 30 per cent. However, strong marketing and distribution tactics mean that in the nations capital, Sofia, HIPP is currently the leading baby food brand.