Loading ...The domestic mineral water market will enter a growth process, with the two of the top 3 players predicted to raise their market share, Liviu Irimia, general manager with the mineral water producers Carpatina and Lipomin told the Business Standard daily on November 28.
In his opinion, the financial crisis might support the mergers of companies, aimed especially at the small enterprises currently holding a 5-6% market share. “The market is quite fragmented compared to the beer segment, for example. While there are four international players on the domestic beer market with a 70 –percent share, three companies hold more than 50% on the mineral water market”, Irimia said.
Liviu Irimia stressed that the mineral water producers should implement some strategies used by the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) companies to boost their market share, which could improve the dynamics of this sector with a 20% growth in the past years, and less than 10 percent slowdown in the wake of the financial crisis.
While big companies have a well-developed distribution system, the small enterprises – domestic manufacturers – have a long way to go and should adopt some of the methods used by the multinational companies on the FMCG market, some marketing strategies and initiatives known as “best practices” with demonstrated efficiency on the market.
Regarding the effect of the international crisis on the domestic market, the Lipomin official said it was hard to make predictions on the domestic market evolution in 2009. The market growth is lower this year compared to 2007, which was an exceptional year for the relevant local businesses, producing to their fullest potential.
The market data revealed that consumers favor mineral water, with the still water segment currently amounting to 35% reporting a slight increase, predicted to maintain its upward trend in the coming years as well, Irimia added.
The domestic soft drink market (including the mineral water) reached 900 million euros and some 3 billion liters last year, according to the data submitted by the relevant companies. In 2008 the market was valued at some 1 billion euros. The main mineral water producers are Romaqua Group, Bibco Biborteni, Pepsi Americas, Dorna Apemin controlled by Coca-Cola, European Drinks, Perla Harghitei and Rio Bucovina.
Lipomin bought in February 2006 the majority stake in Carpatina, which, in its turn, acquired Herculane Water based in Baile Herculane (southern Romania) several months ago, with some of the purchased assets being the still water bottling plant and two adjoining plots of land. The Lipomin company is administered by the owners of the Cuprom mining company, the most renowned being the businessman Horia Simu.
The producers’ data showed the mineral water consumption amounts to 64 liters per capita per year, on a slight upward trend, still modest compared to the 120-liter consumption reported in the western European countries.
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