Unirea Iasi sales down 15%

Unirea Iasi, one of the leading players on the edible oil market, has seen an about 15% sales drop in the first quarter this year, compared with the same time in 2002, operational manager Robert Arsene said. “The decline actually affected the entire foodstuffs market,” Arsene explained. He did not care to provide sales figures for the first three months, though. “We’ve noticed a slight rebound in the last two months, but no major signs of recovery yet,” he added.
A recent survey by GfK Romania market research institute showed Unirea Iasi was the number one of the edible oil market, with 25% market share, followed by Argus Constanta – 19% and Topway -15%. The edible oil market amounted to more than $250 million last year. Another GfK Romania survey pointed out that five markets, the edible oil and coffee included, had seen 3%-11% decline in the first two months of the year, compared with the same time last year. ZF