Family Frost could exit market

German-held Family Frost, which entered the Romanian market with 40 vending vans in 2008, as well as plans to invest 17 million euros, could exit the Romanian market this year after the entry of an investment fund in the shareholder structure of Eismann group, the owner of Family Frost.

The retailer, with around one billion euros in turnover in Europe, currently has an around 100-van fleet for selling frozen food in big Romanian cities.

This is the only vending vehicle operator with sales in the range of millions of euros.

Last year Family Frost Romania posted around 3 million euros in turnover and had an average 50,000 customers per month, according to data provided by company representatives.

The company could, however, withdraw from the Romanian market and from other markets where it has yet to reach large volumes of sales after an investment fund became a shareholder of Eismann, market sources told ZF.

Contacted by ZF, company representatives did not provide data on Family Frost's short-term plans for the Romanian market, only on the turnover recorded in 2008-2009.

"For 2010 I will only be able to provide an answer after the international meeting of the company managers in Duesseldorf in June," said Laurentiu Munteanu, general manager of Family Frost Romania.