Interbrew Romania, a branch of world beer market leader InBev, last year exceeded the 100 million euro threshold on the Romanian market and the psychological threshold of two million hectolitres. "With the figures we achieved in 2004 we hit two major targets: positive results for Interbrew Romania and a significant contribution to the company's growth in terms of volume in Central Europe," said Mihai Albu, general manager of Interbrew Romania. The company's operational profits last year rose by 30% when compared with 2003, while its market share reached 21%, according to data from MEMBR.
"2004 was the year of the premium and PET segment brands. We saw growth on the segment where we have a strong position with Stella Artois and Beck's. At the same time, the PET segment grew strongly last year. In 2004 Interbrew's PET volumes surged by over 180% year-on-year," said Albu. According to MEMBR, Interbrew's market share on the premium and super-premium segments jumped last year from 29.7% to 37%.
"Stella Artois and Beck's, as well as Bergenbier and Noroc, were among our main growth engines. We believe the struggle will continue on the same segments - PET and premium - where new players are likely to emerge," explained Albu.
Last year the beer market was clearly dominated by pils beers, while bottled beer continued to lose ground to PET beer. "So far, special beers, such as dark and alcohol-free beers, have not proved to be viable solutions for the Romanian market in terms of volume. Maybe in the future things will change. Indeed, consumers are showing increasing interest in PET packaged beers. Bottled beer will lose ground, with the returnable bottle the most vulnerable form of packaging at this moment," says Albu.
He did not specify whether Interbrew would be launching any new brands on the market this year. "We already have successful brands on each segment, so we need to focus more on marketing projects for 2005 and we believe we will continue to be able to surprise consumers in a pleasant way," said Albu.
After a quite negative 2004 for the industry, the Interbrew manager is moderately optimistic as regards forecasts for this year. "I think the market will continue to grow, and, with the weather on our side, we expect it to grow by more than 4%. For 2005 the fight is set to continue on the same front - the premium and PET segments - where new players are likely to appear," said Albu. stelian.negrea@zf.ro
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