Vincon sales stagnate in first six months

Wine maker Vincon Vrancea, one of the leading players in the Romanian wine industry, recorded similar sales in the first half of the year to those reported in the same period of last year. "The main reason for this was that banks no longer provided funding, which had a direct impact both on consumers and on wine distributors," said Dan Ghejan, Vincon's sales and marketing manager. He did not wish to specify the level of sales recorded during this period. According to the latest available data, the company's turnover amounted to 25.2 million RON (6 million euros) in the first three months of the year, 3% more than in the first quarter of 2008. For 2009 as a whole, Vincon has budgeted a 10-15% rise, to over 40 million euros, which could be achieved by investments in marketing and by developing distribution. "Last year our target was a 15% sales rise, so we are now below our sales forecast," added Ghejan. The economic crisis is fully felt in the wine industry, he went on to say, so wine consumption failed to see the significant rises recorded in previous years, and even recorded slight declines on some of the price segments.