Sales of the main categories in the consumer goods industry will continue to rise this year. This will happen even though markets such as beer, charcuterie or bakery, with traditional growth rates of above 15%, are showing the first signs of a slowdown.
This year's "star" will be the dairy market, where producers project increases by as much as 25%, supported by the rising prices of end products, as well as by a consumption shift to healthier products.
The charcuterie industry may sit at the other end, despite efforts to continue growth particularly on the segment of premium and semi-cooked products.
On the market of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, the largest in the consumer goods industry, it is only brewers that, just like in 2007, are offering more pessimistic forecasts, putting market growth at below 10%. Last year, though, the hot weather overturned the projections of brewers, which saw growth by even higher than 20% in the first nine months. The wine market, estimated at 450m euros, is not expected to undergo major changes this year.
Another segment that witnessed speedier growth after January 1, 2007, in the wake of custom duties elimination, is that of alcoholic beverages, with a volume of around 81 million litres.
In the case of soft drinks, producers are counting on increases by at least 15% this year.
The biggest companies on the market are already preparing strategies for this year's launches.
Another category with double-digit growth this year is that of chocolate. Should the growth pace registered in the previous period be maintained, chocolate sales in Romania are likely to advance by around 15-20% this year from 2007.
Consumption per capita is still far from the European average and this is why companies expect the upward trend of the chocolate market to continue.
A Romanian consumes around 110 kg of bread per year and this is why the bakery industry has reached a volume of around 2.2 million tonnes and 6.5bn RON (1.8m euros).
"We expect the bread market to decline by 5% in terms of volume this year, amid the changing consumption habits, and grow in terms of value in line with the price hikes for the raw material, wheat," says Alin Giurea, general manager of Pambac Bacau. "The pasta market will rise by around 7% in terms of volume and by some 10% in terms of value in 2008," said Giurea.
As regards the vegetal oil market, "In terms of value, the market will not rise very much this year as it posted high growth in 2007 on rising prices of raw materials. (...)," stated Vasile Leu, general manager of Argus Constanta.
Laundry detergents are likely to go up by 10-15% this year from 2007.
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