Contacted by ZF, representatives of the company did not wish to explain the decline of this indicator.
The negative result of the second-largest soft drinks company in Romania comes despite the market’s return to growth in 2012 after three years of decline, helped by mineral water and carbonated drinks.
PepsiCo remains far behind its main rival Coca-Cola HBC, which last year recorded a turnover of RON1.9 billion (EUR435 million), three times higher than PepsiCo.
“I think the business of the two companies is different because of their strategies, but it depends on how they positions themselves on categories. For instance Coca-Cola is better positioned on mineral water than PepsiCo,” explains Marius Caluian, managing partner of market research company Vektor Marktforschung.
The two US giants fight for supremacy on the Romanian market valued at EUR1.8-EUR2.3 billion and where consumption of soft drinks is over EUR130 liters per capita, according to ZF data.
The best year of the last decade for PepsiCo’s turnover and profit in Romania was 2008, at the beginning of the crisis, when the company exceeded the EUR200 million turnover mark and had an 18% profit margin. From then on the company’s turnover fell year after year until 2011.
Although PepsiCo’s turnover went up 5% in lei last year against the preceding year, to RON633 million (EUR142 million), PepsiCo sells three times less than rival Coca-Cola HBC, which last year recorded a turnover of RON1.9 billion (EUR435 million).
(English version by Daniela Stoican)