Traditionally, Ukrainian cuisine uses a lot of seasonings and sauces. In the analysis of the ketchup and tomato paste market we will talk about production volumes, market leaders, and the main trends in brand creation.
Portrait of the target audience
According to the cabinet marketing research of the company “KOLORO”, ketchup and tomato pastes are consumed by 84% of the adult population of Ukraine. The popularity of the product is easy to explain:
- low price,
- with a shelf life of up to 2 years,
- a desire to save time in cooking.
For example, instead of making a sauce for dry rice, you can simply pour ketchup over it and eat it with just as much pleasure.
Analysis of the ketchup and tomato paste market showed that women buy these products 3.5 times more often than men. On average, Ukrainians consume 1.6 kg of ketchup and tomato paste per year. Consumption of these products has no seasonality, only before holidays and during summer picnics sales increase by 9%.
How often Ukrainian consumers buy ketchup
Key players in the ketchup and tomato paste market
The Ukrainian market offers a wide range of tomato paste, ketchups and tomato-based sauces. Let’s consider the largest producers.
Domestic producers cover 95% of domestic market needs. Only a small part of ketchups and tomato paste is imported to Ukraine. These are usually premium products (from 100 UAH per pack) and sauces with “exotic” composition.
You can read about the leaders of the Ukrainian sauces market here.
Dynamics of ketchup and tomato paste production in 2013-2016
For the latest data provided by the State Statistics Service, we follow the production volumes of ketchup and tomato paste in Ukraine.
Over the last four years, there has been a downward trend in production volumes. This can be explained by three factors:
- economic crisis in the country;
- decrease in export volumes due to the complication of trade relations with the Russian Federation;
- popularization of a healthy lifestyle and, as a consequence, refusal to use sauces in nutrition.
Foreign economic activity
Let us consider the dynamics of exports and imports of ketchup and tomato paste, starting from 2013.
Ketchup and tomato paste from Ukrainian producers are sold on foreign markets.
The volume of product supplies to these markets decreased by 12.73% from 2013 to 2016. The share of supplies to the Russian market decreased by 6.7% compared to 2014. At the same time, supplies to Belarus have positive dynamics: they increased in the export structure from 31.7% to 35.2% of the total volume.
The presence of imported products in the Ukrainian market is insignificant.
Ketchup and tomato paste market trends
Before we talk about market trends, let’s track the major developments in the segment of these food products.
Shevchenko noted that the American market can be conditionally divided into two segments: ethnic trade (for natives of the former USSR) and the American market itself. Until 2015, Chumak worked mainly in the first segment; now it is planned to create a brand to increase the audience of foreign buyers.
Chumak also supplies products to EU countries.
Nestle’s CEO in Ukraine Ansgar Bornemann says that the company is promoting ketchup and tomato paste of the Torchin brand on the European market. The main problem is that Ukrainian ketchup is traditionally packaged in “doy-pak” packaging, while in Europe, non-bendable plastic or glass is used. Now the company is working on re-equipping the production line for the new standard.
Trends in ketchup and tomato paste packaging design
You are greeted by your clothes, but you are greeted by your mind. This expression is true even when it comes to the design of ketchup packaging.
In the Ukrainian market of ketchup and tomato paste, glass and plastic packages, as well as doy-pak packages are the most popular.
Glass packaging. Consumers associate glass with a high-quality product. That is why it is used for premium ketchups. Tomato pastes are traditionally packaged in glass containers.
Advantages of glass packaging:
- the opportunity to review the product when purchasing;
- environmental friendliness of the material;
- no preservatives are used in production, as the product in glass containers can be thermally sterilized.
Disadvantages of glass packaging:
- glass is a very fragile material, so bottles with products may be damaged during transportation;
- high specific gravity of packaging increases the cost of transportation;
- the cost of recycling glass packaging is significantly higher than the cost of recycling other materials;
- are inconvenient in the home due to the fragility of the packaging;
- the product is difficult to use “to the last drop”.
Plastic packaging. Analysis of the ketchup and tomato paste market shows that plastic packaging is used for products in the medium or low price segment.
Advantages of plastic packaging:
- low material cost;
- ease of use and transportation;
- low specific gravity of containers.
Disadvantages of plastic packaging:
- If the material turns out to be of poor quality, the taste and odor of plastic can transfer to the product;
- ketchup in plastic packaging can only be sterilized chemically, i.e. by adding preservatives.
Doi-pak. A flat plastic bag with a fold at the bottom. This type of packaging was invented by Louis Doyen in 1962. However, the invention was first used as an element of brand strategy only in the 1970s. The doy-pak was offered to the Ukrainian market by the company TM “Torchin” in 1996. Now this type of packaging is used for ketchups of medium price segment. In most cases, the package is made of lavsan and polyethylene.
Advantages of doy-pack packaging:
- compactness of packaging;
- usability “down to the last drop”;
- Doy packs are less likely to be damaged than glass and hard plastic packs;
- the material is impervious to sunlight, moisture and odor.
Disadvantages of doy-pack packaging:
- ketchup in doy-pak packaging can only be sterilized chemically, i.e. by adding preservatives.
Ketchup and tomato paste packaging design trends in 2016-2017 include:
- visibility: 90% of Ukrainian producers show the finished product, tomatoes or a variant of serving a dish on the package. Foreign colleagues, on the contrary, prefer labels without photos and drawings.
- minimalism: in the last two years, the attention of customers has been attracted by laconic monochrome packages, which are easy to spot among a large assortment of goods;
- originality: non-standard use of ornaments, play with fonts, flat-design (“flat” design – the maximum simplification of graphics).
- practical: for example, a combined mini-pack was developed for Heinz Dip & Squeeze ketchup. The flexible packaging materials allow it to be used in two ways. Ketchup can be squeezed out of this pack as from a bottle. If you remove the special label, the package becomes a plate in which you can dip food. This ketchup pack design is practical for use at home, outdoors and in fast food outlets.
Also on the COLORO blog you can learn a lot of interesting things about packaging design for other products: beer, vodka, dairy products and even sachets.
Forecasts for ketchup and tomato paste market development
Due to rising prices for electricity and raw materials, companies will be forced to increase the retail price of products. The solvency of the average customer will decrease due to inflation, currency fluctuations and rising interest rates.
The fashion for healthy eating will force manufacturers to change the composition and technology of ketchup production, eliminating the use of preservatives; as well as to develop the design of new packaging to emphasize the naturalness of the product.
Negative market dynamics will continue in 2017. Ukrainian producers of ketchup and tomato paste will be forced to change their brand strategy: to pursue a cautious domestic policy and maximize efforts to enter foreign markets.
Fortunately, with the COLORO agency, no negative tendencies are scary for you. We will help you create the brand of your dreams. Or just give useful advice. Call us.
