Panfoods Romania, the importer and distributor of Amigo soluble coffee, has changed its distribution system this year, switching from only one to several distribution companies, said Simon Browell, marketing and sales manager with the company.
a??Wea??ve switched from a distribution system based on a single distributor to one including several companies. We made this decision because we wanted to improve the availability of Amigo products in stores. We hope this will give us better countrywide coverage, especially as most of our distributors are local companies,a?? said Borwell.
The exclusive distributor of Amigo coffee on the Romanian market used to be Total Distribution Group (TDG), which remains the branda??s biggest distributor. Panfoods directly supplies major retail networks.
Panfoods Romania is part of Brazilian coffee group Iguacu, one of Brazila??s largest producers of soluble coffee. According to Borwell, last year Panfoods Romaniaa??s turnover reached 10m dollars (about 8 million euros), in the wake of 10% growth year-on-year. a??For this year, we expect growth at least to match last yeara??s,a?? added Borwell. Thus, turnover is likely to exceed 11 million dollars this year (about 9.2 million euros).
Panfoods Romania was established in 2002, as Amigo used to be brought to Romania by importers. The company has a plant in TÃ¥rgoviste, DÃ¥mbovita county, which started operations in 2002 and which packages the Amigo soluble coffee. Investments in technology hit 500,000 dollars (420,000 euros).
a??We have decided to invest in a production unit since this is more cost effective and to package coffee here rather than import it already packed,a?? Borwell also said.
Amigo has been present on the Romanian market since 1982, and Romania is the only country beside Brazil where Iguacu holds a production unit.
Borwell says Panfoods is further relying on the category of coffee cans. a??In the category of soluble coffee packaged in cans, we are the third largest player, with a market share of 24%,a?? he states. The top players are Nescafe (Nestle) and Elite (Elite Romania).
Soluble coffee accounts for about 10% of Romaniaa??s total consumption of coffee, estimated at 100 million euros annually.
Coffee specialties made up one of the most dynamic segments of the coffee market last year.
The company has this year launched a promotional campaign for Amigo, in which it has invested 1.5 million euros so far. georgiana.stavarache@zf.ro
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