Competition on the dairy products market is getting tougher with the arrival of some new contenders, Tnuva and Lactolymp (production) and Meggle (through stepped-up imports).
Tnuva is building a 55m-euro plant close to Bucharest and will start production shortly. Another powerful competitor, though it has decided not to invest in production for the time being, is Germany's Meggle group, which plans to gain a solid position, particularly on the butter market, through imports.
The stakeholders at producer Tyrom (ranked 9th in the list of major producers') also made an interesting move. They decided, together with another Greek partner, Olympos, to set up the Lactolymp company to manage a 30m-euro investment in a dairy plant built from scratch, which will be located near Brasov.
Last year, dairy products boasted one of the fastest growth rates on the consumer goods market, with categories such as milk and milk-based desserts posting a 60% surge year-on-year, in line with data provided by the MEMRB Retail Tracking Services market research company.
Thus, dairy products last year came to account for 16% of overall food retail sales, from 14.4% in 2005, and make up the only category to consolidate its significance on this segment.
In line with the AC Nielsen research agency, yoghurts last year were one of the most dynamic products, with sales nearing 100m euros. The results show that yoghurt was among the top ten consumer goods bought by Romanian consumers, in a ranking dominated by juices, beer and cigarettes. Yoghurt consumption rose to 6 kg per capita in Romania, one kg more than in the previous year. However, consumption is still extremely low compared with other European states.
Market leaders last year generated 15-20% increases, with Albalact of Alba-Iulia witnessing the most spectacular evolution, as turnover doubled to 29m euros.
Thus, Albalact left behind the group of secondary dairy producers, entering the "major" producers' category, aided by the launch of the Zuzu brand which pushed Albalact onto the 2nd position (in terms of volumes sold) in the ranking of dairy producers in 2006, in line with AC Nielsen data. The evolution encouraged Albalact shareholders to approach a new market category, that of cheese.
"At the moment, there is a very large and dynamic segment on the dairy product market - fresh dairy products- which I believe will experience solid growth in the coming years and to which Albalact is also heading. The market of fresh dairy products will triple in the next 3-4 years following the disappearance of the black market in the wake of the introduction of EU standards," says Raul Ciurtin, Albalact chairman.
In his opinion, fresh products will see the biggest sales increase in the dairy industry.
The dairy product market in 2006 was worth over 800m euros and is expected to exceed 1bn euros this year.
Dairy product market
Last year reached a value of more than 800 million euros and is expected to exceed one billion euros this year
Competition has toughened amid the arrival of new players, Tnuva and Lactolymp through production and Meggle through stepped-up imports
Dairy products last year came to account for 16% of overall food retail sales, from 14.4% in 2005, and is the only category to consolidate its significance on this segment
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