“The year 2018 was the fourth outstanding year in a row by growth in sales of ANA Pan and ANA Baking Co. We saw over 14% higher revenue, the growth was mostly organic, following completion of the investments in the Ana Pan stores and introduction of a new fresh food and specialty coffee range,” said chief executive Catalin Metehau. He added the company had an innovation department that launches new products every week, from specialty butter pastry to éclairs and tarts.
“We are prepared for the winter holidays with a wide range of traditional [Romanian] sweetbread, and with the E-Targul Dulce de Craciun (E-Sweet Christmas Fair i.e.), a section of our online store. We expect growth of 20% at this time because of high traffic in the online store and good sales at the previous holidays.”
Ana Pan operates 11 stores of its own, one franchised and three Ana Baking Co stores and two shop-in-shops in two Mega Image supermarkets in Bucharest. The confectionery business contributes most of the sales, over 50%.
“We seek a more aggressive growth in 2019, 25%, following the launch of the repositioning project. We are constantly innovating traditional pastry products, fresh food, freshly made sandwiches, salads and soups from nutritious ingredient mixes, as well as a breakfast and lunch range prepared in shops on the spot.”
The 2019 investment budget stands at more than EUR400,000, and will mostly go towards new store openings and manufacturing technology, he added.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)