Ian Gearing, general manager of FrieslandCampina Romania, thebiggest player in the dairy industry, believes there are noprospects for a consumption rebound any sooner than 2011.
"The overall economic situation will not improve considerablyuntil late 2011. There will be another 12 tough months because Ibelieve the economic environment will be very difficult in Romaniain the following year as well. I hope I am wrong, but I wouldn't bea good manager if I weren't realistic and pragmatic," Ian Gearingstates.
The 59-year old British-born manager has run FrieslandCampinasince September 2008. He believes the Romanian dairy market willstagnate this year in terms of volumes and will see a small salesdecline in terms of value amid the shrinking consumption andfalling prices. Nevertheless, he says the market still has along-term growth potential as the grey market will dwindle.
"It was a difficult year because of the prices and marketconditions, but I believe that the fact that volumes did not riseis a temporary problem. This is only a two-year decline for thedairy market and we already have a budget for next year both forpromotion and for new investment projects," explained Gearing,without speaking about the value of these projects.
He maintains the domestic subsidiary of the Dutch dairy producerhas operated few personnel cuts this year and that the marketingbudget earmarked for 2009 was even higher than that of 2008, withthe company's portfolio expanding by over ten products. He did notprovide precise figures, though.
Ian Gearing expects FrieslandCampina Romania's turnover tostagnate this year at the level of 2008, namely 125 million euros.
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