The meat and meat processing industry is one of the largest food processing industries in Ukraine. It is designed to provide the country’s population with food products, which are one of the main sources of protein.
Finished products of the meat processing industry include various types of sausages (cooked, smoked, raw-smoked, cooked-smoked, etc.), hams, sardines and sausages, smoked meats, pates, zeltsy, etc. The meat processing industry is also involved in the production of sausages.
Sausage is a food product that is made from ground pork, beef or poultry meat, with the addition of some offal and spices, bacon, salt, sugar, milk, eggs and other products.
Everybody loves sausage! Sausage is a universal product that is bought by 90% of the total population. Sausage is loved by children, adults and animals. People buy sausage for a quick snack, to prepare other dishes (soups, salads, scrambled eggs, etc.) and for pets.
KOLORO branding agency has analyzed consumers of sausage and sausage products in Ukraine. In this report you will learn about consumer preferences, main criteria for choosing sausage, who are the main consumers of sausage in Ukraine and much more.
Sausage consumption in Ukraine
Sausages and sausage products are one of the most purchased food products in Ukraine. Among the respondents, four out of five people have bought sausages in the last month. Despite the fact that there is a slight seasonality of the product on the market (peak sales are at the end of December – shopping for New Year and Christmas holidays), sausages are actively bought at other times as well.
Consumers of sausage and sausage products are almost 90% of the total population. That is, we can say that nine out of ten Ukrainians buy sausage. Hence the conclusion that sausage is still one of the favorite and popular food products.
Main consumers of sausage products
58% of consumers are women and 42% are men respectively.
Since women are the majority, it is safe to say that they are the main consumers of sausage products. Among this segment we can single out the segment of married women aged 35 to 45. As a rule, they make purchases for the whole family.
In terms of income, the main consumers are people with average and below average income (income per 1 family member 1500-2500 UAH). These are mainly civil servants and workers.
Criteria for selecting sausage products
What influences the choice of sausages? There are several criteria that guide consumers when choosing sausages:
- the flavor, the quality of the product;
- price;
- brand awareness;
- advice from friends or a salesperson;
- date of manufacture and expiration date;
- no food additives, no GMOs, no soy protein;
- package (9%);
- place of production;
- others.
The majority of respondents when choosing sausage are guided by past experience and choose sausage by taste (quality of sausage). The next, but not less important criterion of choice is the price. Price plays a significant role for young people, who, as a rule, have a low income level. Students and young people are ready to “sacrifice” the quality of a product in favor of its lower price. What is noteworthy: men are more oriented on price, while women – on its “quality” and various inscriptions such as “GMO-free”, “Made according to GOST”, etc.
Young people are also guided by the advice of their parents, friends and sellers when choosing sausages , as young people do not have much experience in making such purchases.
An important factor for everyone is the date of production and shelf life. But it is quite understandable, because who would want to eat a stale product?
As living standards and income levels rise, consumers are increasingly paying attention to factors such as the absence of food additives, soy protein and GMOs. They are willing to pay more money and buy more expensive sausage to be assured that the product is of higher quality. The same consumers (with high and above average income) are willing to overpay for brand awareness, brand name.
Unfortunately, packaging and labeling of sausages play an insignificant role in the choice of sausage products (mainly young people pay attention to the package design).
Strange as it may seem, the place of production also influences the choice of sausage products. 90% of city dwellers prefer to buy locally produced products.
Places and situations of purchase
Most consumers buy sausages and other sausage products in supermarkets (almost half of respondents), 38% of respondents buy sausages in specialized stores of meat processing plants, 15% of respondents buy sausages at the market or in ordinary food stores.
According to the respondents’ answers, we can distinguish several situations of purchasing sausage products:
- the majority (35%) buy sausage on holidays – that’s only 5-6 times a year;
- slightly fewer consumers (33%) buy sausage at least once a month.
This gives a clear example that sausages are a very popular food item. At the same time:
- 16% of respondents noted that they buy sausage once a year;
- 9% – once a week;
- 7% – do not buy sausage at all.
Sausage packaging
As mentioned earlier, the design of packaging and labeling of sausageproducts has little influence on the choice of sausage. However, thanks to the original packaging, your favorite product can be found on the shelf much faster among a large number of competitors.
The most popular packaging format among customers is: a whole “bar” of sausage weighing 400-600 grams. In second place is weight packaging (a slice of a sausage bar or sausage by weight). In third place is packaged sliced sausage.
Competition in the sausage market
Competition in the market is quite high. Most consumers buy sausage based on past experience, so half of the respondents noted that they buy sausage and other sausage products of 2-4 manufacturers or brands, 45% of respondents noted that they buy sausage of the same manufacturer or sausage products of one brand. The rest – buy sausage of different brands and do not stop at one particular brand.
Thus, we can conclude that the target audience or the main consumers of sausage in Ukraine are married women aged 35 to 45 years.
Producers of sausage products should focus on adult customers, who in turn will then recommend it to their children. If positioning is chosen for young people, then, first of all, it is necessary to emphasize the low cost of the product and its design.
If you need todesign a package, sausagelabel or any other product, feel free to contact us! In addition to the fact that we create bright and original designs, we test them with the help of focus groups. This means that the new design will definitely meet the needs of the target audience.
Also we can prepare all necessary materials for printing, and make a beautiful visualization of goods, visualization of packaging and labels. Call and order the service you are interested in by phone: 057-706-26-05 and 099-618-87-50.
