Bere Satu Mare, a local company from the north of the country with strong sales in the south, as well, has forecast turnover of 3.6 million euros, almost 40% higher year-on-year.
“We want to hit the 100,000 hectolitre sales threshold, a quarter of which should come from our own county because so far our strongest sales have been in the south of the country. This would mean our transportation costs would be lower and the loyalty of the local market is much higher,” said Adrian Voiculescu, general manager and majority shareholder in Bere Satu Mare. He believes the beer market will grow this year, in part due to the fact that some consumers of alcoholic beverages will migrate from spirits (which saw a much higher excise hike) to beer.
“The market has a cyclical nature and after last year – a bad year due to the rainy weather – we expect to see it grow. The sun is the best salesman when it comes to beer,” said Voiculescu.
Bere Satu Mare produces bottled and PET-packaged beer under the Sailer, Sanberg and Falken brands. “This year will see PET beer continuing to dominate our sales (i.e. it accounted for 60% in 2004), but competition will also be tighter on the segment since almost all the major players on the market have also launched PET beer,” said Voiculescu.
PET beer was one of the stars on the market last year, increasing its market share in terms of volume to almost 30% from 17% in 2003, with European Drinks the main driving force behind growth.
Three years ago Voiculescu gained control of the majority stake in Bere Satu Mare at a cost of half a million euros, investing one million euros in modernising production facilities. stelian.negrea@zf.ro