United Romanian Bereprod Breweries (URBB), producing the Tuborg and Carlsberg brands under licence on the Romanian market, predicts Carlsberg sales will soar 20% this year on the domestic market.
The growth rate estimated for 2006 is thus double that registered last year. According to the company''s representatives, Carlsberg holds a market share of more than 30% of the super-premium segment.
"Since 2001, when we began domestic production of this brand, sales have increased by four times," Catalin Ignat, URBB marketing manager, commented for ZF.
To diversify its offer, URBB launched the Carlsberg Club Bottle onto the domestic market, a beer bottle exclusively targeting clubs and coffee shops. URBB, which owns a plant close to Bucharest, is present only on the premium and super-premium markets, through the Skol, Holsten, Tuborg, Carlsberg and Guinness (imported) brands.
The company will this year carry out investments worth 50 million dollars (40 million euros), to double its current production capacities. Before the end of the year, URBB will invest 15 million dollars in the first stage of the programme meant to boost production capacities, which will reach 2.3 million hectolitres by 2011. At present, the brewery located near Bucharest has an annual capacity of around 1.2 million hectolitres. Total investments carried out up until 2005 exceeded 100 million dollars.
URBB is the biggest exporter of premium beer in Romania, with exports accounting for 7-8% of production. The main international markets where Tuborg Romania products can be found are Bulgaria, Serbia, the Republic of Moldova and Hong Kong. According to the company''s representatives, exports surged by 45% last year as compared with the previous year.
In 2005, the manufacturer of the Tuborg and Carlsberg brands saw 40% higher turnover, to about 72 million euros. For this year, the company''s representatives forecast that turnover will increase by 25%, along 15% higher sales in terms of volume.
The consumption increase is being sustained by massive investments in promotion and the launch of innovative products. According to URBB information, advertising expenditures were 50% higher in 2005 than in 2004, 32.5 million euros (rate card).
The beer market is put at over 600 million euros. According to the main players in this industry, the market went up by 5% in terms of volume last year, from 12% in 2004. dana.ciriperu@zf.ro
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