Mugurel Radulescu, communications manager with the bottlers of Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola HBC Romania, says the company has gradually relinquished distribution of its products, spinning off the service to specialised companies in order to focus on its core business.
"Our company is centred on sales and marketing and we have the option of resorting to firms specialising in shipment for distribution," says Radulescu.
According to the representative of Coca-Cola HBC Romania, there are many distributors at present that have the managerial capacity of handling freight shipment for short and long distances.
When Coca-Cola initially entered the Romanian market, the direct distribution solution was mainly chosen because it allowed the safe delivery of products to customers, conforming to the company's strategy.
"Gradually, though, we've had to consider a solution, which is why we have sealed partnerships with strong distributors in most areas of the country," he adds. Radulescu also says the maturity level of distributors in the early ?90s cannot be compared with today's level.
"As the market has progressed, we've started considering the possibility of using some distributors. Originally, we resorted to them to send the freight to areas that were far from urban centres," says Mugurel Radulescu.
The company works with 91 distribution firms covering the largest part of the country. Direct distribution remains the solution used for Bucharest, Craiova, Pitesti, Brasov, Ploiesti, Iasi and Constanta.
"In the rest of the country, we have other distributors or contractors," adds Radulescu. The partnerships the company signed 12 years ago are still valid and distributors' businesses have grown in parallel with the business of Coca-Cola in Romania.
Radulescu also says the shippers' role is now more important given some plants' have become spec
