Astese Production, the domestic market leader for champagne and sparkling wine and producer of the Angelli brand that was taken over by Germany's Henkell&Sohnlein last year, saw its sales increase by 10% to 11 million euros last year amid a slightly improved market.
"We already own more than half of the market, but this is suffering because Romanians are still used to only drinking sparkling wine when on holiday or for special occasions - unlike Germans, for example, who drink it as an aperitif," said Marius Obritenschi, marketing manager with Astese Production.
He says there is still confusion on the market, with consumers still not acquainted with the production methods involved in champagne and sparkling wine. "Consumers don't know that champagne is naturally fermented and that with sparkling wine the carbon dioxide is simply added during bottling. Some players on the market are taking advantage of this confusion," says Obritenschi.
Astese Production is banking on a slight increase in sales of 5% this year.
According to research by MEMRB, Angelli has a market share of 55% in terms of quantity and of 58% in terms of value. Under the Angelli brand Astese produces champagne and sparkling wines, as well as vermouth, and imports a number of brands from its parent company: Henkell Trocken, Deinhart and Sohnlein sparkling wines and Gorbatschow vodka.
Obritenschi says Astese also controls over 30% of the vermouth market.
Sparkling wines account for more than 65% of Astese sales, with the rest made up by sparkling wines. These cover 65% of the company's total sales, the rest coming from vermouth and vodka.
"Henkell&Sohnlein is counting on higher consumption of sparkling wines in Romania after it joins the European Union," says Obritenschi.
In Eastern Europe, Henkell& Sohnlein has acquired the market leaders in Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Romania, and is also the leader of the German champagne and sparkling wine market. The company is part of the Doktor Oetker group, an important player on the German beer market.
According to Obritenschi, however, the company is not interested in entering the Romanian beer market.
The champagne and sparkling wine market is considered dynamic compared with others in the region and is worth about 10 million euros annually.
The main rival to Astese is Karom Drinks, which has a 36% market share and is owned by another German sparkling wine producer, Schloss Wachenheim, the main competitor to Henkell&Sohnlein on the German market. stelian.negrea@zf.ro
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