The sweetest tastes of Hungary: Szerencs, Győr, Balaton

Though the most special Hungarian sweets product might be Túró Rudi, there are several other in the repertoire. Two great manufactures contributed significantly to the success of Hungarian desserts: Győri and Szerencsi, both named after the settlement where they were founded.

Győr

Győri Keksz has given the market many of the best Hungarian sweets, including the Albert biscuit, the Balaton szelet, the Vanilla rings and the Pilóta biscuit.

According to HVG.hu, the manufactory’s history began in 1880 when magnate Bach Hermann founded it. The manufactory was sold to Lajos Koestlin who brought his biscuit-making machinery from his former factory in Austria. The production of the biscuits, crackers and gingerbread began in 1900. The business skyrocketed when World War I broke out, and the manufactory provided the army with easily portable but nutritious biscuits.

One of Győri Keksz’s first brands was the Albert biscuit, which got its name from Prince Albert of England.

It has been produced for more than a century based on a British recipe. After the war, the number of employees decreased from more than a thousand to 500 and the factory changed its profile: it began to produce chocolate and candies after 1922.

This process paused for a couple of years when the Wehrmacht occupied Hungary, and the manufactory switched back to producing only biscuits for the soldiers. By 1945, the unit ran out of materials and the production was forced to be halted.

The factory was made a state property in 1947. It was one of the leading sweets manufacturers during the socialist era under the name Győri Keksz és Ostyagyár (Győri Biscuit and Waffle Factory) and was modernised multiple times. It was extended in 1990 with a candy production sector.

The building was purchased by a British corporation United Biscuits, which added a chips production unit to the factory. It was the same Győri Keksz which is still in operation today.

Szerencs

Besides Győr, there is another centre of sweets in Hungary: Szerencs. The production of cacao and chocolate began in 1921 in the factory in Eastern Hungary.

The first product of the manufactory was the cooking chocolate packed with the iconic golden foil. The company’s development launched when Frigyes Liechti was announced as the new director of the factory in the mid-1920s. He imported modern machinery and professional workers from Germany to improve the manufactory.

In the late 1920s, the company created its two most significant products: Boci chocolate in 1927 and Szerencsi cacao — with its iconic package with the white cat — in 1928.