Burger beer, produced by European Food, the company controlled by the Micula brothers, has lost its position in the top five of best-selling beer brands on the retail segment in the first half of this year, according to data of Nielsen research company.
Two years ago, Burger was the best-selling beer brand in retail, according to the same source.
Ioan Micula, president and shareholder of European Food, contradicts Nielsen data, saying that Burger continues to rank among the top five brands, at number 4.
"They (Nielsen i.e.) did not have our sales data available, and could not know the exact figures. According to our data, Burger ranks fourth in terms of volume of sales on the retail market, and has an over 8% market share," said Ioan Micula.
As beer sales revolved around 9 million hectolitres on the market, of which the retail segment accounts for around 5.8 million hectolitres, Burger sold over 450,000 hectolitres, worth 27 million euros, according to ZF estimates.
Burger sales have lost ground over the last few years, with the brand gradually slipping in the ranking of the top 5 best-selling beers in retail. According to the leading producers in the beer industry, the crisis was one of the factors behind Burger’s decline.
The low-price segment, where Burger is positioned, failed to post the growth expected in the first half of the year, despite the diminished purchasing power, with mainstream brands still the best-sellers. Whereas the Romanian branches of multinationals reported a 9% decline in the first half, small beer producers recorded an 18% drop in business in the same interval.
However, Burger is not the only brand of the Micula brothers to lose ground to rivals. Data of the Romanian Mineral Waters Company (SNAM) reveal that production of Izvorul Minunilor mineral water at the Stana de Vale and Rieni sources has declined over the last two years. According to the SNAM ranking, European Drinks was fourth after the first four months of this year, after being number two in 2006. Adrian Oltean, general manager of European Drinks had previously explained for ZF that water sales were on the rise, but that the differences were accounted for by the fact that last year’s stocks were used in the first part of the year.
The Burger brand was launched by the Micula brothers on the Romanian beer market in 2004, and, two years after launch, it was already among the best-sellers. The brand’s competitive edge, which helped it gain market share so quickly, was the PET packaging, a segment that multinationals were approaching only tentatively in 2006. The best example - Timisoreana, the current best-selling brand, held by Ursus Breweries, was launched in a PET bottle as late as three years ago.
However, after being market leader in 2007, according to Nielsen surveys, Burger had slipped two positions in the ranking of best-selling beer brands in retail by the end of 2008, and left the top 5, according to the same source.
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