Top Brands Distribution revs up expansion

Gilda Ardeleanu, development manager of Top Brands Distribution (TBD), the second-largest player on the Romanian distribution market, says the company’s strategy involves focusing on partnerships with big manufacturers, rather than approaching new categories of products.
“We have had a lot of partnership proposals and there are many categories of consumer goods with a high development potential on the Romanian market, but we would rather concentrate on the segments where we are currently present. Moreover, from a logistic point of view, it is easier to distribute fewer product categories,” said Gilda Ardeleanu.
TBD this year became the distributor of Philip Morris products in Arges county and plans to continue its regional expansion, which will push the company’s business up and at the same time strengthen its partnerships with the two manufacturers it works with, Philip Morris Romania and Kraft Foods Romania.
The company currently distributes 37% of Philip Morris Romania’s output, in nine counties, being also a distributor for Kraft Foods Romania in Bucharest as well as in Ilfov and Teleorman counties.
Gilda Ardeleanu states that the degree of involvement in partnerships with manufacturers is very important in the distribution field, because business depends on how professional distributors are, but the distributor is also tied, to a certain degree, to the supplier.
“We are the eyes of the manufacturers on the market. For example, the Philip Morris sales representatives directly interact with our sales representatives, and the two teams have weekly meetings to exchange information,” Ardeleanu says.
The players on the distribution market will be ranked in the next few years by the services they offer, say companies in the field.
“Being professional in the distribution field means having well displayed products, having enough stocks so that the products are always within the consumer’s reach, and people who are well-trained in sales and negotiations. This earns you a good reputation, the right image and the trust of the manufacturers,” she added.
At the beginning of 2001, TBD made the decision to give up distributing the Elite products in order to concentrate on Philip Morris, which had been the company’s partner ever since its establishment in 1998, and results showed after just three months.
The company has recently completed an investment worth 6 million euros in building its own logistic centre in Otopeni, TBD Logistic Center, which caters to the capital city and its surroundings.
“We made this investment primarily due to the increase in the number of employees from 86 in 2001 to over 300 currently,’ explained Ardeleanu.
The new TBD centre includes, apart from the administrative building, a warehouse for Kraft Foods Romania and one for Philip Morris Romania.

Top Brands Distribution

Currently distributes 37% of Philip Morris Romania’s output in nine counties, being also a distributor for Kraft Foods Romania in Bucharest, and in Ilfov and Teleorman counties.
Recently completed an investment worth 6 million euros in building its own logistic centre in Otopeni, TBD Logistic Center, which caters to the capital city and its surroundings.
Saw the number of employees grow from 86 in 2001 to over 300.