Communist-Era Confections Come Back
The landscape for consumers in Central Europe has changed dramatically from what it was two decades ago when the last vestiges of the Communist states started crumbing. Large Western European supermarket chains, such as the British Tesco, the German Lidl and the Dutch SPAR, can now be found in most moderately sized towns in the region, and the ubiquitous brands of candy and cola globalization – Mars, Sprite, Pepsi – are as prevalent here as elsewhere.
Nevertheless, making their way back beside the Tic Tacs in the checkout line and the two-liter Coke bottles in the soft drink aisle are a number of products which experienced their heyday during Communist times.
Krowka are caramel fudge candies made in Poland by several different firms but all with an image of a Holstein cow on a white- and yellow-colored wrapper. The word “krowka” means “little cow” in Polish. Krowka were a widely popular treat across Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War, though they noticeably occupied less counter space in the immediate post-1989 era.
“A few weeks ago, I found some krowka at a local supermarket. I had been hoping it would come back for years. It brought back fond memories of my childhood. I bought several of them the last time I was in the shop and handed them out to all my old friends,” said Csilla Nagy, 41, from Gyula, Hungary.
In the Czech and Slovak Republics, shops are now selling vast quantities of Kofola, a drink that gained local fame in the decades before the Iron Curtain came down. Kofola was originally introduced in 1962 by Galena, a pharmaceutical company, which was researching ways to bring a caffeinated drink into the Czechoslovak market -- one which it hoped would rival Coca Cola. Czechoslovakia was split into two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in 1993.
“After 1989, local consumers were interested primarily in cola brands from the west. As a consequence, sales in Kofola decreased substantially, “said Lenka Puzlikova, a spokesperson for Kofola.
“However, in 2002 we started refocusing on our brand. Our effort was successful, and as a result sales have been increasing every year since then. Today Kofola is the best-selling non-alcoholic drink in Slovakia and the second in the Czech Republic after Coca-Cola,” she added.
Another brand often spotted is Vinea, a grape-flavored carbonated beverage, which was created in 1973 by a Slovak named Jan Farkas. Vinea was purchased by its soft-drink rival Kofola in 2008.
“To me, nothing is better than a bottle of Vinea on a hot summer day,” said Robert Karnis, 38, an English teacher and small business owner in the Slovak town of Sliac.
To be sure, the large cola companies have established a significant presence in the countries which once comprised the other side of the Iron Curtain. Pepsi sponsors Sziget Festival, one of the largest cultural and music festivals in Europe, every summer on Obudai Sziget, a small island situated on the Danube near Budapest. Coca-Cola, meanwhile, funds the eponymous Coca-Cola Beach House for revelers at Hungary’s Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe and a favorite holiday destination for people in the region.
Balaton too is the name of local chocolate bar which was an established Hungarian brand in the days before Snickers and Kitekat hit the shelves. The brand, which is available only in Hungary, became part of Nestle subsidiary Nestle Hungaria in 2008.
Sweets such as the Sport candy bar from Hungary and Bon Pari hard-boiled fruit candies from the Czech Republic continue to enjoy widespread recognition in the Web 2.0 Internet age. Each has developed a loyal following among Facebook users with several hundred devoted fans apiece.
Founded in 1953 by the Csemege Edesipari Vallalat, Sport was eventually procured by Kraft Foods. In the words of its Facebook aficionados, it is “the favorite snack amongst majority of Hungarians.”
Bon Pari traces its roots to the SFINX sugar confectionary which began operations in 1863 in the Czech town of Holesov. The company was sold to Nestle in 1992 and, according to the company’s literature, produced 20,000 tons of sweets in 2008, mainly for export.
