Whiteland counts on 5-10% turnover increase

Whiteland, a major food distribution company, expects turnover to rise by 5-10% this year and relies on new partnerships with food producers. The company has recently added the Raureni producer of vegetable and fruit preserves on its list of suppliers, which should boost its distributed volumes by 2-3% in the first year. This is the first new partnership the distributor has sealed in 2009 on a market that is reporting the first sales slumps, after the average growth of recent years had revolved around 15-20%. Most distributors foresaw stagnating turnover in early 2009. "In line with our strategy, each new producer is added to Whiteland’s portfolio in a bid to boost turnover and ease cost pressures, especially under the current market conditions," said Sorin Branzan, sales manager of Whiteland Sales & Marketing. Last year, the company reported turnover growth by around 5% in RON from 2007, to 285m RON (77.3m euros), with sales in euros declining because of the RON devaluation against the European currency. "For us, it’s important to be ready at the moment the economic situation improves, to have the same organisational structures, the same operational capabilities," Branzan feels.