Valvis set to launch competitor for Dorna in September

Greek-born Swiss businessman Jean Valvis, who built two powerful Romanian brands, Dorna and LaDorna Lactate (LaDorna dairy products) will launch the premium mineral water Aqua Carpatica in September. The new brand will compete with Dorna, the water that Valvis sold to Coca-Cola in 2002, on a market put at some 300 million euros.
The factory he is building near Vatra Dornei in Suceava county is almost finished and is testing the first products, with about 20 employees working there at the moment. The almost 10 million-euro project will be the second major greenfield investment in the mineral water industry started in a time of crisis, after the Bilbor factory of URBB, the Tuborg brewer.
Even with the decline in consumption, the local entrepreneurs bet on development of Romanian brands, turning out to be more dynamic than the multinationals in this industry: Moraru family for instance, the former owners of Bere Azuga, launched a new brand on the market, Azuga, in the past year, while the dairy sector entrepreneurs Horia Bălan and Mihai Petrea bet on reviving the Cezara and Cheile Cibinului brands after buying them from Heineken. The local consumption of mineral water, is put at 50-60 litres per capita, while the Central and Eastern European average is 95 litres.