For the time being, beer leads in Romanians’ favorites when it comes to beverages, in a comparison that also includes water, soft drinks or wine. Thus, water consumption, for instance, is less than half the European average, with each Romanian drinking around 50 liters. Beer consumption may be lower but Romanians are still drinking 78 liters per capita, which matches the European average.
In the beer industry, 2010 was a year of decline, with brewery closings and layoffs, as well as manager departures. Under the circumstances, beer industry companies grouped in Romania’s Brewers Association, now have only 10 breweries left domestically, three fewer than in 2009, employing 4,100 people, from 6,000 last year. Companies blame the decision to curb production on the market’s plunge in recent years.
In late 2010, Hezy Ovadia took over from Shachar Shaine at the helm of URBB and a surprise came in 2011, when Mihai Ghyka gave up the management of Bergenbier, being replaced by Jens Hoesel.
As for the non-alcoholic beverages market, 2010 was a slump year, too. International giants such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo call the shots on this market, but Romanian-held companies such as European Drinks or Romaqua are starting to make a difference. The market leader, Coca-Cola Hellenic last year posted a EUR27.1 million drop in revenue, blaming shrinking sales on the difficult economy. The company had previously announced a 4% Romanian sales decline in 2010, down to 952.7 million liters.
Coca-Cola’s main rival, PepsiCo, posted a two-digit sales volume decline. Nevertheless, 2010 was a year of changes for PepsiCo.
Among Romanian-held companies, Romaqua registered EUR142.5 million turnover from 11 brands. Romaqua is the largest Romanian business in consumer goods production, according to a ranking by ZF. Through Borsec, Romaqua is the main player on the mineral water market.
The wine market coped with a challenging 2010, and after a 10% decline caused by the weakening purchasing power, the main players tried to survive by relying on exports and opening their own stores. But with production down by several percentage points, things were not easy at all. Ever since last summer, wine producers have been counting on exports to stay afloat and have traveled as far as Asia.
Despite the hardships, 2010 was the first year when European funds helped many Romanian producers to put their wines on the market.