The manager of Parmalat Romania, Giampaolo Manzonetto, says the drinks producer intends to count on the juice and nectar segments over the coming period, after still drinks registered a 300% sales increase this year.
Parmalat Romania saw its sales advance by 300% on the still drinks segment in the first 9 months of this year on last year, after it added PET-packaged Santal juices to its portfolio over the last year and a half.
"For ice tea, Santal posted a 241% increase during this period, after we launched the PET alternative," says Manzonetto.
At the end of last year Parmalat replaced cardboard packaging with PET for still drinks. On the market, PET packaging is preferred over cardboard packaging due to the smaller costs incurred by bottlers.
The summer season's hot weather also aided the higher-than-expected growth witnessed by Santal TOP (still drink) and the rising weight of ice tea, to almost 8% of Parmalat domestic sales. "This year, the still drinks segment was bolstered by high temperatures in the summer. As a rule, December is the most important month for us, however in 2007, July and August brought us sales double the monthly average," explains the manager.
Overall, the company's sales increased by 50% in terms of volume and by around 30% in terms of value in the first 9 months of this year against the same time last year, according to Parmalat data. Manzonetto forecasts sales worth above 14m euros this year, up from 12.1m euros last year. The company's operating income doubled after the first 9 months and is forecast to top 3m euros by yearend, believes Manzonetto.
Romania's integration into EU aided because of the lower costs of raw materials. "Shipping, energy costs and wages increased instead, but not above the projected levels (...), said Manzonetto. Domestically, Santal is the leader of the 100% juice segment and r
