Export value can be estimated at more than one million euros, without taking excise duties into account.
The Stalinskaya vodka launched in 1996 is one of the most important brands of Prodal’94, and is the best-selling vodka in Romania with a 2.3 million liter volume.
“Stalinskaya has been constantly growing in the last few years, consolidating its leader position (on the vodka market i.e.). This will be transferred to international markets, as the markets’ response is positive,” said Florin Radulescu, the manager who has been running Prodal’94 for about seven years.
He has a more than twenty-year experience in the fast-moving consumer goods business, having started at Sitaco Pepsi Cola, the bottler and distributor of PepsiCo beverages in Romania at the time. He worked for PepsiCo for about 15 years.
“Our plans are to have export volumes exceed domestic volumes by 2017.”
Prodal’94 is the third leading spirits producer in Romania by revenue, after Alexandrion and Scandic Distilleries. It posted 35 million lei (EUR8 million) in revenue last year.
Prodal’94 portfolio includes several other brands such as Discovery (vodka), Wembley (gin), Passion (brandy), Monaco (liqueur).
Stalinskaya is sold in European countries like Italy, Germany, Spain, in most of Romania’s neighboring countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and the Republic of Moldova) and in countries far away such as China, Chile, Bangladesh and Vietnam.
The local vodka consumption stands at about 20 million liters a year, and Stalinskaya’s main rivals are Absolut (Pernod Ricard Romania), Scandic Vodka (Scandic Distilleries), Alexander (Alexandrion Grup) and Finlandia Vodka (BDG Import).
Florin Radulescu says Prodal’94 has invested more than EUR35 million in promoting and supporting Stalinskaya in Romania and abroad since its launch.
The company has also been investing in registering and protecting its brand (Stalinskaya is a registered trade mark in 120 countries), in market research and brand image development, Florin Radulescu said.
“We’re investing about 20% of our export value in promoting Stalinskaya brand abroad.”
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)