“There is a fantastic potential on the non-carbonated drink, nectar and fruit juice segment, because consumption is very low, as well as on the beer mix segment. If I were to give a piece of advice to an entrepreneur looking to invest in this industry, I would tell them to create a range of flavored zero calorie water and have at least one type of cola on the soft drinks segment. The soft drinks segment is currently the most developed of the entire market,” Raducanu says.
According to the data provided by the company, carbonated drinks account for 78% of the total soft drinks market, followed by still drinks, which account for 9%. Top selling flavor is cola (51%), followed by orange (21%) and lemon-lime (7%).
The main clients the German company has in Romania are Unilever, URBB (United Romanian Breweries Bereprod, which makes the Tuborg and Carlsberg beers), European Drinks, Parmalat, Rio Bucovina, Perla Harghitei and Tymbard Maspex.
Doehler also supplies beverage recipes along with the ingredients.
It expects about 6% sales growth this year after having introduced new products and further growth of 10% in 2012.
Raducanu says Romanians are more and more interested in what they drink, in the ingredients in their beverages, as well as in low-calorie drinks.
“Interesting product categories in Romania (…) should be aqua fruit, non-carbonated drinks with over 20% fruit content, malt beverages and beer mixes,” he added.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)