500,000 euros for PET beer

Bere Trei Stejari Sibiu, a small brewer, has invested nearly half a million euros in modernising its PET bottling facilities, in anticipation of a boom on this segment. “We want to have PET bottled beer account for more than 60% of our sales. We made these investments influenced by the very good performance of the PET bottled beer segment,” says Mihai Anghelescu, the chairman and majority shareholder of Bere Trei Stejari. The company posted sales of nearly 5.5 million euros (156,000 hectolitres) last year, down approximately 5% from the previous year. This year’s estimates point to sales of more than 7 million euros (170,000 hectolitres). The company owns the Balea, Balea Pils and Trei Stejari brands, and is a regional player operating in the counties surrounding Sibiu. “I believe that the small brewers will manage to compete with the major players after the EU accession by regional penetration and by a competitive pricing policy,” says Anghelescu. Bere Trei Stejari will soon begin a 350,000 euro investment project to comply with the European food safety regulations. ZF