Beer market reaches 600m euros

The beer market continued to grow this year, as in recent years. However, the pace of growth was much slower and was accompanied by a repositioning and restructuring in the PET sector and an increasingly fierce clash on the premium and superpremium market segment. The big four - Brau Union Romania, Interbrew Romania, SAB Miller and United Romanian Breweries Bereprod - continued to carve out a 75% market share for themselves, though they are experiencing a serious threat from European Drinks, which leapfrogged to third place less than a year after entering the market. Smaller independent brewers, who dominate at a regional level and account for the remaining 25% of the market along with European Drinks, are optimistic about the future. Maj or players expect the market to hit the 14 million-hectolitre mark this year, giving it a value of around 600 million euros, slightly up on the previous year's results of 12.8 million hectolitres and 550 million euros. ZF