BDG: Jack Daniel''s and Finlandia, 60% of turnover

BDG Import, the importer of Corona beer and Evian mineral water, projects 50% turnover growth, to 12 million euros for this year, after it took over the import and distribution of Jack Daniel”s, Finlandia Vodka and Southern Comfort brands early this year.

The three brands are owned by Brown-Forman, one of the biggest US companies on the wine and alcoholic drinks market, with annual sales worth 2.7 billion dollars.

“Brown-Forman brands will account for more than 60% in our domestic business, and the expertise we got by distributing the Red Bull brand will help, because the target consumer segment is roughly very similar,” stated Pepe Berciu, a BDG Import managing partner and one of the company”s shareholders.

Red Bull is not a Brown-Forman brand, but it was distributed by BDG on the Romanian market until late 2004, when the Austrian producer opened its own representative office.

Sales of Jack Daniel”s, Finlandia Vodka and Southern Comfort brands on the domestic market and in duty free shops will amount to 7 million euros this year, in line with BDG estimates. The company will start distributing Brown-Forman brands in April.

“We must considerably strengthen our position on the domestic market and to this end we”ve carried out a very thorough selection of distributors. In two months, we hired 15 people for distribution and we created a 6-people sales structure to handle the network of local distributors and another 6 persons for HoReCa (hotel, restaurants and catering) segment,” explains Berciu.

Until the beginning of this year, Brown-Forman brands had been distributed on the Romanian market by Allied Domecq, an important player on the spirits market. Last year, Allied Domecq was globally acquired by Pernod Ricard. In the wake of this deal, Brown Forman representatives sought new partners on the domestic market.

“In Romania, we”ve looked at several companies affected by the takeover of Allied Domecq by Pernod Ricard,” stated Grant Mackenzie, Brown-Forman deputy chairman for emerging markets.

Brown-Forman does not follow the same business model in all the states it is present in. “We are trying different models in each country,” says Mackenzie. He specified Brown-Forman mostly works with multinationals or with major players on the markets in operates in. dana.ciriperu@zf.ro