The Romanian beer market, where several hundred million dollars have been invested since 1997, has climbed 10% in the first six months and it seems to be heading for a record-high this year.
In the first half of 2003, Romanians drank 6.13 million hectolitres of beer and, should this performance continue in the next six months of the year, the record consumption of 12.08 million hectolitres in 2000 is very likely to be exceeded.
The market boost is all the more surprising as 2001 and 2002 were rather modest years, when the market dropped as compared to 2000, while the first quarter of this year had logged a further 9% decrease in consumption.
In fact, several months ago, the beer companies had come to terms with the low purchasing power and the seemingly endless winter and they only hoped for the market to recover. They did not dream about a record growth for the past few years.
However, the heat wave at the end of May and all through June and the launch of new beer brands have made them sing a different tune.
"Should July and August prove two normal summer months in terms of sales, and the beginning of this half suggests they will be, then I really cannot see what could stop this growth. Especially since the last quarter does not hold a significant share in the annual sales, so it cannot have a decisive influence upon the market evolution," says Mihai Albu, general manager of Interbrew Romania, a branch of Belgian group Interbrew, the world's third-largest beer producer. Interbrew is selling Stella Artois, Beck's, Bergenbier and Noroc on the Romanian market.
Virgil Mailat, general manager at Bere Mures, the market's fourth-largest player, feels that things could look even better.
"July has been our best month for sales in the past few years. Thus, we may see even more than 10% growth by yearend," Mailat stated.
According to officials of beer companies, the April-June growth was not solely due to the heat, but also to the increasing sales of PET-packaged, premium and superpremium beer. In fact, this year has seen most launches on these particular segments: SABMiller launched Holsten and Miller, while Interbrew - Beck's and the PET-packaged Bergenbier.
The strongly ascending trend of the above-mentioned segments is best highlighted by the evolution of Tuborg Romania, the company representing Danish group Carlsberg and Bere Mures.
In the first half of 2003, the sales of Tuborg Romania went up 20.7%, due to the Tuborg and Carlsberg brands (premium and superpremium), while the sales of Bere Mures skyrocketed - a 74.6% growth, due to the PET-packaged Newmarkt beer.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
