Tohani is the biggest winemaker of Dealu Mare, with a 500-ha vineyard area.
“Our vine has been replanted and is now in various years of production. Over EUR10 million (RON45 million) have been invested in this period, in replanting alone,” Virgil Mandru told ZF.
The businessman controls around 70% of the winemaker’s stock. Tohani group of companies targets revenue worth RON54 million this year, up 28% from 2013.
For 2015, Tohani plans to develop the premium product segment and another project is related to wine tourism. “Depending on the trend of the economy, we want to develop the touristic side in Tohani as the potential of wine tourism is at least as high as that of production,” said Virgil Mandru.
In his opinion, the wine industry is one of the few in Romania to have fared the crisis well as producers managed to draw EU funds, retool their plants, replant vines.
Tohani, a company that was privatized after 2000, has 100,000 bottles of wine in its collection. This wine is sold only to those who visit the winemaker.
“This year’s sales have been characterized through growth in the premium area and decline on the medium or cheap area. Starting this year, we gave up producing cheap wines”.
Exports contribute 10-15% to Tohani’s revenue, with the company’s wine reaching 20 countries. “Tohani has always been interested in exports, but in wines you must have a story that you should be able to promote. For the time being, we have very good wines in Romania, but not an extraordinary image abroad”.
In the wine industry, Tohani is a large player and is battling on a market worth above RON1.3 billion.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)