“Exports account for 35% of our revenue at the moment and we intend to grow through our existing international contracts, which will cover large market segments in Europe, US and UAE,” says Eliodor Apostolescu, general manager of Phoenixy, a company that posted 82.7 million lei (EUR19 million) revenue last year.
Eliodor Apostolescu and his business partner Catalin Nour started Phoenixy when they were still in college in the early nineties. The two started by selling ice cream in a street stall and now their company is the leading corn puffs maker in the country with a 70% market share and one of the few Romanian companies to successfully export.
Phoenixy operated at a 12% net profit margin last year, double as much as in 2013, according to ZF’s calculations based on Finance Ministry data.
Gusto puffs are available in several European countries (Hungary, Austria, Germany, Spain and Italy) and in other parts of the world such as Dubai, Canada and the US, the company has previously said.
Phoenixy owner says he expects growth of 10% in revenue this year, largely on the back of exports.
“We are in talks with international retailers, so we are very optimistic,” Eliodor Apostolescu said.
The company makes both corn puffs, as well as snacks and packaged peanuts, all of them under the Gusto brand. Phoenixy plans to make investments in new products and in expanding the Gusto Pufuleti (Gusto Puffs) range, as well as adding more products in the other categories this year.
The largest local snacks producer is Star Foods, part of the PepsiCo group.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)