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Saturday, March 26, 2005

Nestlé expands Romanian biscuit production

Nestlé sales in Romania grew by some 60 per cent to around €62 million last year, helped by the continued importance of the biscuit and confectionery sectors there. The Romanian wafers market is worth some €40 million a year (Nestlé has around 35-40 per cent of the market), while the wider confectionery market is valued at around €150 million.

The Timisoara plant accounts for approximately 50 per cent of Nestlé Romania's total production, and also produces wafers for export to Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the countries of FYROM.

Nestlé said last year that it planned to invest around €3.5 million in its Romanian business between 2005 and 2007, and while Nuber said that the latest investment was not particularly great in terms of value, it was nonetheless important to help the company increase its share of the mini wafer market.

Nestlé bought the Joe company – a locally owned, greenfield plant built in the mid-1990s- from a Romanian entrepreneur in 2002, and since then has invested more than €10 million in production and marekting. Nestlé has about 350 employees in Timisoara and about 200 in Bucharest.

The success of the Joe Mix brand in particular can be put down to the snacking habits of the Romanian consumers. They are the biggest consumer of roasted sunflower seeds in Europe, and the popularity of this traditional Romanian snack has helped companies develop strong sales of more modern snack poducts.

Posted by Mihai : 3/26/2005 01:20:00 pm