After introducing flower and parcel delivery services or the possibility to buy concert tickets, the OMV gas stations will also have their own coffee brand, VIVA, developed in partnership with Italy’s Gimoka.
The Italian company, based near Lake Como, specializes in freshly roasted coffee blends, and ranks fourth in Italy, according to its website.
The decline in fuel demand prompted oil companies to develop non-oil services, a trend that is increasingly visible.
“The VIVA coffee was designed together with coffee specialists Gimoka, near the Lake Como in Italy,” OMV Petrom officials said without specifying how high the investments in the new coffee blend were.
“Famous baristas worked together with OMV representatives for more than half a year to create and refine the recipe of the new VIVA coffee. All the VIVA employees received advanced training to use the precise settings of the coffee machines.”
The OMV gas station network can be regarded as the widest coffee shop and restaurant chain in Romania. In all, coffee shops and restaurants are a 6.7 billion lei (EUR1.5 billion) business, according to Finance Ministry data.
“OMV gas stations offer a wide range of products, more than 2,500, and services such as payment of utilities bills, bank installments, money transfer, car insurance, car wash, lottery tickets, flower and parcel delivery and tickets to cultural events (in partnership with Eventim),” the OMV officials added.
The new coffee is available exclusively in all OMV gas stations as espresso, cappuccino, latte macchiato and many more for on premise or off premise consumption, OMV said.
Petrom sales stood at RON21.5 billion in 2014, 11% lower than in 2013, while net profit shrank by 56% to RON2.1 billion, with the company posting RON307 million loss in the fourth quarter.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)