Mihut Craciun says integration plans are just being prepared now, but his words indicate Kandia’s appetite for development, and especially for regional development, is far from satisfied.
Kandia, a business with an over 120-year tradition, is owned by Austrian Meinl family.
Both Kandia and Supreme are part of a very select group of chocolate makers that still own plants in Romania, after other rivals decided to drop their local manufacturing operations for those on other markets.
The deal closed last year created the second largest player on the chocolate market, with a business estimated at EUR50 million for 2012. The company is the largest on the market by number of production facilities, where it is currently employing over 750 people.
“Negotiations started last spring. We considered every opportunity to consolidate our business and an analysis revealed Supreme was the best option. Developing other products on its own was not a difficult mission for Kandia, but the takeover of Supreme enabled us to directly enter other segments such as biscuits and wafers and thus get a complete portfolio,” explains Mihut Craciun, who is now the general manager of Supreme Chocolat, too.
Therefore, the portfolio dominated by brands such as Kandia, ROM and Magura added Ulpio biscuits and Primola wafers.
Craciun says Kandia is a domestic producer with a portfolio of traditional brands, while Supreme is a domestic maker, too, but much younger and the portfolios of the two companies complement each other.
He added talks with the Jabra brothers went well and came at a time when Romanian consumers are looking at domestic brands, again, no longer holding the absolute belief in the myth that everything made abroad is better.
Kandia official would not reveal the value of the deal, but market sources say it was worth between EUR15 million and EUR20 million. Mihut Craciun is similarly reluctant to talk about the future of the two plants the company has or about employee numbers.
“We are now analyzing the integration plan and will complete it in the next three to six months. Both businesses will go as they are now for a while, with the same people and the same structures. There are over 750 people now, but personnel cutbacks are not a purpose in itself for us.” Integration should be completed within 12 to 18 months, he added.
After taking over Supreme Chocolat, Kandia is focusing on exports, with Craciun using the “regional player” words.
“Exports account for less than 10% of the production volumes of Kandia and Supreme and we want to increase that. We are already operating on the Bulgarian, Hungarian, Serbian, Spanish, Polish, Croatian and Italian market. We are also present on the US and Canada markets, though in the Romanian communities there.”
However, the company is also looking towards East. “This will be one of the major avenues for development in the future. We want to become a regional player.”
Talking about the chocolate market, Craciun says a slight decline was registered last year and 2012 is a year difficult to forecast. However, Kandia seeks moderate growth in 2012.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)