Friesland: results exceed wildest expectations

“Both for me and for the management team in the Netherlands, our results have exceeded any scenario we may have had before coming to Romania,” Gerbrant de Boer, general manager of Friesland Romania says today. They entered the market in 2000, following an acquisition campaign, they positioned themselves as leaders on the dairy market, estimated at 800 million euros, and now Friesland”s business in Romania is approaching a hundred million euros. Since 2000, acquisitions made by the Dutch group Friesland Foods in Romania have exceeded 17 million euros. These moves saw the Dutch group reach a turnover of over 90 million euros last year, against the 71 million seen at the end of 2004. This year, the company is set on exceeding 100 million euros in turnover. Globally, Friesland Foods closed last year with a turnover worth 4.4 billion euros and an operating profit worth 211 million euros, a 12% increase against 2004. The interest Friesland Foods had for the Romanian market, started to grow ever since 1998, as its businesses in the Czech Republic and Hungary strengthened their position. ZF