Sales of packaged foods rise 19%

Sales of packaged foods on the Romanian market increased 19% last year compared with 2003 to 143,190bn ROL (3.53bn euros), a trend induced by the increase in buying power and drop in inflation, a survey by Euromonitor reveals. “A significant contribution to the increase in family revenues came from Romanians working abroad. At the same time, the more relaxed credit terms for durable goods in terms of lower interest rates reduced the pressure on savings, favouring an increase in the sales of packaged foods,” the survey explains. As for consumer trends, demand has focused on basic food products, the prices of which were affected by the increase in the prices of wheat, milk and sunflower seeds used in the making of edible oil. Despite the dynamics of the domestic market in 2003, Romanian food products remained unsophisticated, with bakery products, dairy products, oil, and dried and frozen foods accounting for most of the sales of packaged foods, approximately 89% of the total. “Bakery products continue to be the best-selling packaged foods, followed by dairy products, with the combined market share reaching about 66%,” the survey shows. ZF