After a slow summer, business picked up in September and October, when brewers saw double-digit growth, an unexpectedly good result. The warm weather and the UEFA Champions League soccer competition made Romanians go out to drink or put more beer in their shopping carts.
The last year of growth for the beer industry was 2008, after which the market fell in 2009 and 2010. Beer sales reached a record high of 20.45 million hectoliters in Romania in 2008, the year when the world economic crisis began. Last year, they stood at only 16.83 million hectoliters.
Most of the beer is sold through retail channels, accounting for 72% of the total sales, according to a report by consultant Ernst&Young for 2010. The average price per liter of beer sold through this channel is EUR0.8, including sales tax (VAT), while on the on-premise segment (hotels and restaurants) it costs EUR1.7 per liter.
Judging from these prices, one may say that Romanians spent EUR801 million on beer sold in the hospitality industry, and about EUR969 million on beer available through retailers. In all, they spent some EUR1.8 billion last year, according to ZF calculations.
The largest brewers on the local market are Ursus Breweries, Heineken, Bergenbier, URBB and Romaqua (Albacher and Dorfer). Out of the companies to have announced their financial results so far, Heineken posted the highest growth.
The annual report shows Heineken’s sales went up almost 10% in volume in 2011. Bucegi, one of the brands in its portfolio, generated more than 2 million hectoliters in sales and was one of the local growth drivers. Heineken’s portfolio includes Silva, Ciuc and Golden Brau, and the company owns four plants in Romania in Constanta, Craiova, Miercurea Ciuc and Targu Mures (south, south-east and center of the country). Under the circumstances, one may say the Dutch-owned brewer is gaining ground on the market leader Ursus, which posted 6% decline in sales in October-December 2011 compared with the same time in 2010 (the third quarter of the company’s fiscal year).
(English version by Loredana Frățilă-Cristescu)