New Umbrella Brand of AVK Hrusters

AVK confectionery started the promotion of the new “umbrella” brand HRUSTERS on the market of salted snacks. Thanks to the broad product line under the AVK brand, the AVK will double its share on the Ukrainian market of salted snacks by the end of 2006 to reach 4-4.5 percent in monetary terms.

The more active stance of the Company on this market is attributable to the high trend of the snack consumption. “Today this is very lucrative and fast growing market. At the end of 2005, the sales of salted snacks increased by 60 percent in Ukraine”, notes the AVK Marketing Director Oleksiy Ostapchenko. The AVK has gained a substantial experience on the snacks market. It pioneered the production of innovative snack products in Ukraine, specifically based on the extrusion technology (“Mazhor”, “Mix” brand etc).

The new umbrella brand will unite under one trademark all sorts of the snack products of the AVK: chips, products of the extrusion technology and other new products. According to AVK market development specialists, this will become an important competitive benefit on the fragmented market of the salted snacks. AVK is the first company on the Ukrainian market of salted snacks to offer consumers the different types of products under the single umbrella brand. In addition, the HRUSTERS brand will allow chopping the costs for the promotion of the wide spectrum of the salted snacks.

Oleksiy Ostapchenko said that the snack development would allow improving AVK economic results. “The sales growth of the snack products will contribute to the lowering of the season factor in the confectionery business. It will ensure the balanced load of the company facilities and the stably high AVK sales over the year”, he said. The peak of the confectionery products falls on the autumn and winter, whereas the salted snacks are of the highest demand in the spring and summer”.

The production of the first products under the HRUSTERS brand is on the production facilities of AVK. These are the potato chips “HRUSTERS Chip by Chip” and snacks with the taste of seafood “HRUSTERS Light Rolls”.

The chip “HRUSTERS Chip by Chip” with the taste of beckon, cheese, paprika, mushrooms and sour cream with onion (high quality semi-finished products) are imported from Italy. Compared to the traditional chips production from the cut potatoes, the application of this technology allows saving more useful components in the product.

“HRUSTERS Light Rolls” are made in the form of rolls on the base of rice and sea products (shrimp and salmon). The rolls are the new subcategory on the market of the salted snacks, an innovative product that have no analogues in Ukraine.

The products under the HRUSTERS brand will be positioned in the middle and upper price segments. The recommended retail price of the “HRUSTERS Chip by Chip” is UAH 1.9 per pack, “HRUSTERS Light Rolls" – UAH 2.1 per pack.