COVID-19 and the food industry in Hungary

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on all sectors of the global and local economies. It has been widely reported that the food industry has been one of most affected sectors of the economy. However, empirical studies are yet to quantify the extent of the impact of the industry and also how the various sub-sectors of the industry have been affected. Focusing on Hungary as a case study, this paper seeks to empirically quantify the extent of the pandemic’s impact on the food industry by answering the following question: How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted businesses in the food industry? To answer this question the study employs descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and paired samples t-test to analyse quarterly turnover data of 27 businesses sectors of the food industry for the period 2016 to 2020. The study finds no significant difference in the mean quarterly turnover of businesses during the first year of the pandemic and the previous year (t= -0.0344; df=107; p=0.731). However, a trend analysis revealed that over the past 5 years, it was only during the first year of the COVID-19 that businesses in the food industry recorded quarter-on-quarter reductions in turnover. The worse affected businesses in the food industry were enterprises involved in the retail sale of beverages in specialized stores, event catering, restaurants and mobile food service activities. Our findings suggest that while the pandemic adversely affected some enterprises in the food industry, others flourished during the first year of the pandemic.