Romanian beer market too crowded for Royal Unibrew

The fierce competition on the Romanian beer market, where four of the worlda??s top five brewers are battling for supremacy, is forcing Danish brewer Royal Unibrew to keep its distance for the time being, despite its strong presence in other former communist countries.

a??According to our strategic plan, Romania is not an area of interest for Royal Unibrew,a?? says Christian Malling, communication manager with Royal Unibrew, the maker of the Faxe, Albany and Ceres beers.

Vifor Versescu, the general manager of the Association of Beer Producers in Romania (PSPBR), which represents small and medium-sized players on the market, confirmed that the Romanian beer market was too crowded, adding that growth over the next few years would be primarily attributable to the large players.

a??The competition is very strong, and the increases of 3-4 million hectolitres that are expected over the next few years (the market reached 14 million hectolitres in 2004) will be absorbed by the four leading players – Brau Union, Interbrew, SAB Miller and Tuborg – who will take some 2.5 million hectolitres, while the medium and small players will take the rest.a??

He says consumption of beer in Romania will rise from the current 66 litres per person to between 80 and 85 litres per person over the next few years.

a??Certain signals point towards a decline of the black market for alcoholic beverages, which has also affected the beer market negatively, while living standards will also go down, too. Beer may become the working mana??s champagne as happened in the Czech Republic,a?? he said.

Royal Unibrew, known as Brrygerygruppen until last week, controls a significant share of the markets in former communist countries, such as in Poland where it recently acquired a production facility and the Baltic States. The company had sales of around 400 million euros last year.

The Romanian beer market was worth 600 million euros (14 million hectolitres) last year, a slight increase on the previous year (550 million euros or 12.8 million hectolitres). stelian.negrea@zf.ro