Following the surprising increase of nearly 12% in the total beer consumption in Romania in 2003, all the major brewers managed to conclude the year with higher sales than in 2002.
The various marketing and sales strategies, the increasing popularity of certain brands, the disappearance of others and the entry of new competitors on the market led to changes in positions.
Brau Union (the brewer behind brands such as Golden Brau, Gosser, Silva and Ciuc), although still the market leader, saw its market share shrink for the third year in a row. SABMiller (Ursus and Timisoreana), the second top player in 2002, lost its position to the Belgians at Interbrew (Stella Artois, Beck's or Bergenbier).
Tuborg Romania (Carlsberg, Tuborg, Skol), part of the Danish Carlsberg Group, maintained the growth pace of the last few years (some 20%) and attained the market share (nearly 7%) it set out to get in 1998, when it began production of beer on the Romanian market.
Bere Mures (Neumarkt), which doubled its market share in 2001 and 2002 due to the successful PET bottled beer, posted strong growth in 2003, as well, when it sold 50% more. The company is now the fifth leading player on the market, a position it sees challenged by European Drinks (Servus and Meister) this very year. The Micula Brothers' group that entered the beer market in the second half of 2003 had already attained 1.8% market share by the end of last year and could come to account for 5% or 6% of the market in 2004, the competitors say.
When taking over the Brewery Holdings (made up of the Grivita, Ciuc Miercurea Ciuc and Haber Hateg breweries) back in 2000, the Austrian Brau Union Group doubled its market share to 36%. Enthusiastically looked upon by the company officials at the time, the acquisition has yet to show its positive effects, at least where the market share is concerned.
Brau Union's market share kept dwindling in 2003, when it reached 32.3% from the 33.6% in 2002. The market share decline occurred against an increase in sales by 7.6% (to 4.14 million hectolitres), below the market growth pace of 11.9%.
The loss of more than 3.5% of the market throughout 2001-2003 was caused by the substantial efforts to restructure the brand portfolio and the productive capacities. Brau Union has not focused on promoting the regional brands (Harghita, Hategana, Arbema) over the last three years, directing its marketing and sales efforts to the international brands (Gosser) or to the national ones (Golden Brau, Silva, Bucegi).
laurentiu.ispir@zf.ro
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