Mihaela Burtoi, 34, has been working for the company since 2002, when she came on as assistance manager. Throughout the years, she has gone on to work as trade marketing manager, brand manager and senior brand manager.
During her time with Tymbark, the only company she has worked for, the company launched brands such as Figo, Tymbark Cool, Fontea, Tedi Play and others.
From this position, she’s competing against the brands of giants such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Parmalat (which makes Santal) which operate on the juice, nectars and still drinks market (JNSD).
Ziarul Financiar continues the series of article featuring brand managers in the fast moving consumer goods industry with the brand manager of Tymbark.
The series began with the brand managers of PepsiCo (within the drinks division) and continued with those of Heineken, Ursus, URBB (United Romanian Breweries Bereprod), and Coca-Cola Company.
Difficult market
The crisis and declining purchasing power have significantly affected the juice, nectars and still drinks market, which lost nearly 13% in volume between 2005 and 2010, according to calculation based on data provided by a study by research company Canadean.
This category saw the biggest decline on the soft drinks market, while the next affected segment, that of carbonated drinks, only lost 0.2% in volume.
But Burtoi says 2011 was a better year for the soft drink market even though the JNSD segment has not posted any growth.
“The decline in 2011 was lower than that in 2010. Under the current economic conditions, we can say the situation is favorable,” she said, adding Tymbark is optimistic for 2012.
In 2010, the bottled water and soft drink market (which includes carbonated soft drinks, bottled water, syrups, the JNSD segment, energy drinks, bottled ice teas and coffee) stood at 2.8 billion liters, bringing per capita consumption to 130 liters per year, according to calculations based on data provided by research company Canadean.
The market can be estimated at EUR1.8-2.3 billion a year.
Tymbark
Tymbark Maspex, which owns two juice factories in Valenii de Munte, in the central Romanian Prahova county, is one of the largest Polish investors in Romania.
The company’s portfolio is divided between the juice division (with brands like Tymbark and Tedi) and the instant beverage division (with brands like La Festa, Brumi and Arnos).
The company had sales of RON245 million (EUR58.2 million) last year and expects a growth of 10% this year.
The Polish group also owns Arnos past in Romania, but sales of Tymbark Maspex only include the two aforementioned divisions.
Tymbark has 700 employees and exported 16% of its output last year.