Monika Geyenes, founder of Best of Hungary, and her son Zoltan
Machynlleth, Wales
Great Taste case study
Monika Geyenes is the founder of Best of Hungary, a Hungarian deli specializing in gourmet premium quality artisan food sourced from the Hungarian countryside. She set up the business in 2016 and has a team of five, including her son Zoltan. They enter around thirty products into Great Taste each year.
She says: “We enter products every year for several reasons, mainly because our portfolio keeps evolving and there are always new producers or products on our shelves that have never had a chance to enter Great Taste before. There are also other products which have been reformulated based on feedback from the judges and are hoping to get their first stars. And then there are producers who gained awards some years ago and are looking for ‘fresh’ recognition that they still have that Great Taste ‘je ne sais quoi’.
For us, there are no other award schemes that match the rigor and prestige of Great Taste…
“For us, there are no other award schemes that match the rigor and prestige of Great Taste; we keep entering as we believe our products should be recognized at the highest level. The most important aspect for us is knowing that our products are objectively delicious and that they can be ranked amongst not only the top products on the domestic market, but the finest in the world.
…we rely on Great Taste as an independent stamp of approval and proof that we’re on the right track.
“We are a family business, proudly flying the flag for our native land and our goal is to bring the very best of Hungary to our customers. Our own tastes are so intertwined with the familiar tastes of our childhood, that we rely on Great Taste as an independent stamp of approval and proof that we’re on the right track.
“Our business has grown alongside our success at Great Taste, so much so, that it is an integral part of our story. Our website was live for a matter of months when one of our first suppliers was awarded a 3-star. That led to our first flurry of orders and we have been nominating products every year ever since.
We thought perhaps that our enthusiasm for the awards might fade with time, but the opposite has been the case.
“As a retailer, we see the direct impact of results day when we get an increase in traffic to the website, but we have also seen a longer-term uplift in sales for award-winning products throughout the year.
“We thought perhaps that our enthusiasm for the awards might fade with time, but the opposite has been the case. We have seen how a Great Taste accolade can transform the fortunes of our partners in Hungary. It is wonderful to know that we are helping to maintain critical sources of agricultural employment in some of the most disadvantaged regions of our native land. Recently we introduced our own ‘Monika’s Kitchen’ range – products that we believe have that special something the judges look for. Through this, we look forward to being able to showcase more of the outstanding produce our small but mighty home country can offer our British customers”.
