Cafea Fortuna, the only Romanian company among the top 4-5 players on the coffee market, has built a brand new plant, with investments worth 8m euros.
According to Dan Lazarescu, general manager, the new plant, which is located at the Bucharest exit, on the Bucharest-Pitesti highway, has been built over the past 2 years in order to bring Fortuna coffee production up to the EU food industry standards. As a result, the company has relinquished its old production unit in Domnesti (Ilfov).
In 2006, Cafea Fortuna registered net sales worth 78.4m RON (22.2m euros), and held a market share of over 15%. The Romanian producer competes with multinationals such as Kraft Foods, Elite and Tchibo on a market that produces almost 400,000 tonnes.
Its founder Constantin Moroianu, who created the firm in 1993 and now boasts around 110 employees, owns the company. Lazarescu joined the company during its first few years.
"This year, we target an improved market share and the modernisation of production," states the general manager, who this year estimates similar sales to the figure posted in 2006.
"Practically, the new facility could double our production. We expect the market to grow, because in Romania coffee consumption registers one of the lowest levels in the EU," Lazarescu added.
Domestically, imported coffee stagnated at 2.35 kg per capita last year, less than half the EU average of almost 5 kilos, according to International Coffee Organisation data.
The biggest weight of sales is held by the bulk coffee segment, which witnessed a downward trend. The producer also operates on the packaged coffee segment with the same brand, Cafea Fortuna.
The company distributes its products exclusively on the domestic market and has partnerships with approximately 40 distribution firms. "Of course, we could also produce for foreign markets, but excises do not allow us to do this," states Lazarescu.
One of the challenges players on the Romanian market have to face is heavy competition from Hungarian products, especially in the western region of the country.
According to the data provided by the National Statistics Institute, coffee imports in Romania totalled approximately 19,000 tonnes in the first half of this year, down almost 8% from the same period in 2006. However, market players estimate consumption is higher, because some products are brought from neighbouring countries, which are not included in official statistics.
At present, excises range between 612 and 3,600 euros per tonne of coffee depending on its type. Within the next 3 years, excises will be gradually relaxed and eventually dropped by 2011. "Once coffee excises will be dropped in Romania, it will show in prices, as well, even though the raw material is becoming increasingly more expensive on the international market," Lazarescu says.
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