“We are now working with about 16 partners who have some 300 employees. We have 13,000 Nescafe coffee machines in the market. Nestle Professional’s business has been increasing by 3% to 5% a year, we’ve had sound growth,” Ovidiu Tunaru told ZF.
“The best year for the company, however, was 2015 (…)”
Nestle Professional is the out-of-home solutions division of the Nestle Group, which has 15 plants worldwide and 10,000 employees. In Romania, Nestle Professional is part of Nestle Romania along with other divisions, which generated about 690 million lei (EUR153 million) revenue last year. Ovidiu Tunaru did not say how much of that the division he runs contributed, merely adding each division had an almost equal contribution to the overall revenue.
Nestle Professional’s brands in Romania are Nescafe Milano and Nescafe Allegria (coffee machines that make Nescafe coffee), Maggi (food seasonings) and Docello (coffee syrup), all of which operating on the out-of-home segment.
“The market is nearing maturity but there is still room for more players,” Tunaru said.
Despite lagging behind Europe by coffee consumption with only about 2.5 kilograms per capita per year, Romania’s market is growing and consumers are choosing premium products or coffee mixes that include milk or various flavors.
“Coffee consumption is on the rise, consumers have changed their behavior over the years,” Ovidiu Tunaru said. There are no surveys to indicate how much the out-of-home segment accounts for of the total coffee market so far, he added. The Nestle official expects the market to continue to grow in the next three to five years. (EUR1=RON4.5074)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)