After taking over Napoca ice cream brand from Friesland Foods, Unilever announces it will introduce its second domestic brand on the market and the company's distribution operations will target areas left uncovered by its competitors.
"Our goal is market development, we are not only aiming to boost market share in Romania. I see a potential for domestic ice cream consumption to double, to the value registered in Poland, of 4 litres per capita per year," stated Fulvio Guarneri, marketing manager of the food unit of Unilever South Central Europe (USCE).
Unilever does not want to fight only with Nestlé and the around 60 domestic ice cream producers. Its entrance on the market can be a threat to all sweets producers as the company is among the three biggest investors in promotion in the consumer goods sector.
This year, Guarneri expects the company's promotion investments to rise from 2008 as a result of the new product launches. "We want ice cream to gain a position on the market as a dessert for everybody and all consumption occasions. For this, a solid distribution is very important," Guarneri states.
Domestically, the market is now dominated by impulse buy products, the best sellers in traditional trade.
Unilever entered the domestic ice cream market this year, announcing in late February the acquisition of Napoca brand from Napolact, a company owned by Friesland Foods Dutch group, and the entrance of Algida unit on the market.
"We're further interested in increasing the number of domestic brands in the portfolio. We'll soon launch Big Milk ice cream brand, created only for the market of Romania, with the products being manufactured in Poland".
Will Unilever make further acquisitions on the ice cream market? Guarneri is not ruling it out. He still sees potential for Romanian sales to rise above the region's average despite the crisis.
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