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The All Time Favorite Products of Hungary
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Hungary not only has many Nobel-prize Laureates, but has many retro snacks, drinks and cosmetics, as well. Manager Magazin of Világgazdaság has collected some of the most important, but less known hungaricums.
The Wise Woman’s heritage – Helia D
The story of Helia D, the cosmetic brand, is truly like a fairy tale. There was as an old lady in Szigethalom, who created various lotions based on her own ideas. Radio stations and the press picked up the story. The Hungarian National Bank had a mutual fund at that time which made an offer to the elderly woman. Finally,
thanks to the Biogal Pharmacy in Debrecen the product was ready to be put on the shelves of the local supermarkets before the Christmas holiday in 1981.
After the regime change in Hungary, a foreign businessman bought the brand, but he did not intend to deal with cosmetics. Thus another multinational company took the lead of Helia D, which received less attention and marketing support. Hence the number of products dramatically decreased from more than a hundred to only four by 2004. Then Péter Budaházy purchased the company. Since then, they introduced more than a hundred new products to their portfolio.
Bambi, the bottled syrup
This orange flavoured syrup became the symbol of the 1950’s and 1960’s, but to tell the truth, it had a mildly tarry taste indeed. It was sold in 0.25L buckled glasses and was the only soft drink of Hungary for a long time. It was bottled since 1947 by the Mineral Water Plant of the Capital.
The first American soft drink ever distributed in Hungary was Coca Cola, in 1968.
However, Bambi had a final lash: Thermal and Open-Air Baths of Budapest ltd. asked a few old “timers” at the beginning of the 2000’s, who contributed to the production of Bambi back then, to create a syrup from better quality ingredients. It is still sold until this day, although only in a limited edition, approximately five to six thousand bottles a year.
