Before 1989, getting your hand on a Coca-Cola, Fanta or Sprite can was a rare thing for Romanians, indeed. Only Pepsi Cola was produced in Romania at the time, although at a quality far lower than the one in the United States. Someone was saying that every American visiting Romania would be addressed as "Mr. Coca-Cola."
The general opinion is that things get done by themselves in a multinational concern of Coca-Cola's size. It is mostly true, but this goes only for the developed markets, where competition boundaries have already been set and nothing new can happen.
After 1990, the two world rivals embraced different strategies for Central and Eastern Europe. Pepsi-Cola relied on its tradition on this market, but gradually lost by its own fault.
Analysts say there is no clear reason behind this and that everything is a matter of Romanian's soft drink preferences. All the more reason since a third player on the market, namely European Drinks, has come along biting some of Pepsi Cola's share.
On the other hand, Coca-Cola felt a market with 23 million people was profitable and proceeded to an aggressive marketing and a spectacular investment plan. At present, the productive capacity in Ploiesti is the largest of the entire Central and Eastern Europe.
Whereas Coca-Cola had a certain tradition, the other brands required powerful promotions conducted by the American concern representatives in Romania.
The Coca-Cola Company in Romania, as anywhere in the world, teams up with bottling companies, which are therefore granted the right to bottle Coca-Cola products.
The company bottling and distributing the products of the famous American concern in Romania is Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC).
CCHBC's history goes back to 1992, when Greek Molino Group was licensed to produce Coca-Cola soft drinks in Romania. It invested $18 million in Oradea and managed to cover and rule the Western area of the country in a very short period of time.
The Molino Group later decided to invest in a bottling factory and chose to base it in Timisoara. The share capital of CC Timis amounted to $24 million.
The group's strategy focused on gaining as high a market share as possible in Romania, therefore made another investment in the Iasi-based factory.
In 1999, Coca-Cola HBC took over Coca-Cola Ozgorkey's business in Romania, while the external Coca-Cola Amatil and Coca-Cola Leventis merger became operational in Romania last year, so that there is only one Coca-Cola bottler - Coca-Cola HBC, a public company listed on London and Athens Stock Exchanges.
Tom O'Beirne became Coca-Cola HBC president in Romania last year, although he had been in this country since 1996 when he had taken over Molino leadership. His ties with Coca-Cola go back much further; Tom says he has been working for this company for a lifetime, that is about 40 years.
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