What a big client means for a distributor: a 70% increase in turnover

Sorin Gavrilă, 44, the Bacău entrepreneur who together with Cristinel Lungu controls an almost 230m-euro business through Simba Invest consumer goods distributor, says that large producers, such as Philip Morris or Kraft Foods, are “strategic partners” for a distribution business.

Simba Invest last year saw its sales go up by 70% from 2009, mainly as a result of expanded collaboration with the producer of Marlboro cigarettes, Philip Morris, with which the company signed the first contract as early as 1998.

With 230m-euro turnover, Simba Invest is the biggest consumer goods distributor owned by Romanian entrepreneurs domestically and is likely to enter top three in this field.

Simba Invest, which delivers products for over 6,000 clients, in late 2007 started distributing products to individuals, as well. The over 20 producers or importers the company currently has contracts with include Kraft Foods Romania, Alexandrion Group, Grandiss, BDG Grup, Wrigley or Red bull, Pfanner and Parmalat.