Marketing Activity of Hungarian SMEs Working in the Food Industry

The importance of the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is undisputable both inside and outside the EU. Two in three employees are employed by these enterprises and they produce almost half of the GDP in Hungary. The research aimed to map the marketing characteristics of the SMEs in a branch that has no significant past in this field, with special regard to the dairy and meat processing industries which are the most significant ones in the Hungarian food sector. Marketing is evaluated as a less important management tool by the examined enterprises. The product portfolio is set up mainly based on the available production capacities and less based on the consumers’ demand due to the lack of market information. Pricing is determined by the costs of production. Only a few of them have an own brand, on the other hand their communication activity is of low level and random. It is positive that 8.3% of these SMEs have adequate marketing management. These enterprises are mainly micro- and larger medium-sized ones. Another positive fact is that more than one-third of them have a significant latent demand for effective marketing.