Abstract:

Food industry is traditionally a pivotal point in the Hungarian economy. In the recent years SMEs suffered significant loss of share both in the Hungarian as well as the international food markets, and the viability of agricultural and food processing SMEs declined. Reasons of this decline may be examined from several points of views. On the other hand, the consumption of local agricultural products receive more emphasis, and the effective exploitation of the growth opportunities in the sector may contribute to the competitiveness of the overall Hungarian economy. Apart from the local products, international agricultural products take significant share, too. International price movements of grains assumed to influence the Hungarian food industry. In this research we explore the SMEs, which are pivotal in the overall Hungarian economy. Based on primary research data from the Northern Hungary region, this study examines how international price moves of basic food produce may influence the national food ndustry, and how this contributes to the increasingly more aggressive financing and its’ consequences in SMEs in the food industry.

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