“Mineral water consumption rose by 5% in the first nine months compared with the year-ago period, after three years of decline,” Adrian Feru said.
He added that the main drive of consumption growth was the hot weather this year.
Dietrich Szilard, deputy general manager of Perla Harghitei, says that usually mineral water consumption starts to rise around Easter, peaks in the summer and then only increases again in December. About 40% of the sales are made during summer months, he added.
Feru says he has noticed an increase in the sales of water bottled in large containers (bottles above 2.5 liters to 9 or 10 liters) and that the consumption thereof is two or three times higher than three years ago.
“In Romania, the average yearly mineral water consumption is about 60 liters per capita, behind countries like Germany and Belgium,” Feru said, adding consumption per capita reached about 55 liters in the first nine months of 2012.
Sparkling mineral water accounted for some 60% of the total consumption, while still mineral water accounted for the rest.
SNAM manager says that in countries like Bulgaria, Hungary and the Czech Republic, the government charges royalties of less than one euro, while in Romania it charges four euros, and it would really help local producers if it were cut.
Perla Harghitei, one of the largest local mineral water producers, expects growth of 4% to 5% this year, after having seen slight growth in the first part of the year, helped by the hot weather, as its deputy general manager Dietrich Szilard said.
Szilard added that he had noticed an increase in private labels on the mineral water market as consumers tend to put price first.
Perla Harghitei posted 68 million lei (EUR15 million) sales last year, down 7% on the previous year and RON42,500 in profit, according to Finance Ministry data.
“You can’t make huge profits in this business because of price pressures,” Szilard said.
The largest mineral water producers on the local market are Romaqua (Borsec, Aquatique), Coca Cola HBC (Dorna, Izvorul Alb), European Drinks (Hera, Izvorul Minunilor), Perla Harghitei, Rio Bucovina. There are also smaller companies, which do not sell their products countrywide, such as Apemin Zizin, Ape Minerale Boholt (Aqua Sara), Favorit Bodoc (Bodoc).
The officials of the organization representing mineral water producers in Romania, APEMIN, say that the 33 brands of its 17 members, which include the above-mentioned ones, account for about 85% of the country’s mineral water production.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)