Orkla Foods Romania has restructured its margarine range of products, after completing a takeover deal involving Royal Brinkers, one of the top three players on the domestic market in 2005, according to Aliz Kosza, CEO with the company. Orkla Foods Romania is the domestic arm of the Orkla Norwegian group, which derived a turnover exceeding 7bn euros
"Portfolio rationalisation started in the last quarter of 2006. Since then the Corina, Matinal and Bunica brands of tub margarine have been withdrawn," stated Aliz Kosza.
In the wake of the deal, Orkla's portfolio on the margarine segment now includes Wiesana, Fr?hstuck, Bunica (OFR's own brands) and Linco, Holland, Matinal and Unirea (brands part of Royal Brinkers portfolio).
"As some of the brands are regional, they will remain in the portfolio for the time being, with a regional approach and on sales channels," specified Kosza.
In February, Orkla re-launched the Wiesana brand of margarine, with new packaging and production changes. According to the company's information, as quoted by the MEMRB, during the period January-February 2007 Orkla held more than a 50% volume of the market (not including private labels), with Wiesana and Unirea proving the most dynamic brands. The main rival for Orkla on the margarine market is Unilever.
The company expects sales of Wiesana to increase by 20% this year, after the rebranding process has been completed. According to the company's representatives, Wiesana is the most valuable brand in Orkla's margarine product range. Beside production under its own brand, the company also makes private label products for international retail chains, which, according to Kosza, account for 1% of the company's turnover.
Orkla is one of the most dynamic companies within the domestic food industry. The group has recently operated a capital injection of around 10 million euros in its Romanian unit. The company's representatives explained the increase in capital by the need to support investments in the five domestic plants the company owns.
In less than three years, the domestic unit of the Norwegian group has sealed 3 key acquisitions (Topway Craiova, Ardealul Covasna and Royal Brinkers Romania) reaching a total of 5 production platforms and employing 750 people, from 250 three years ago.
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