Romanian Apemin Tusnad reports 10% decline in sales in 2009

2010-02-09

Apemin Tusnad, one of the largest Romanian bottlers of mineral water, saw its sales decline by 10% year on year in 2009 and amount to approximately €11m. One of the reasons behind the decline was the loss of some of the company’s distribution partners to insolvency. Moreover, some of the company’s distributors requested longer payment terms, which resulted in debts owed to the company by distributors and clients amounting to approximately €1m last year.
Nevertheless, Apemin Tusnad plans to continue investing in 2010, albeit with a more cautious approach. In 2007-2008 the company invested around €7m in bottling lines and doubled the production capacity of its factory in the county of Harghita.
The sales decline recorded by Apemin Tusnad is reflective of the decline in the value of the mineral water market in Romania. Although the market remained at the 2008 level in terms of volume sold, it contracted in sales value by as much as 6% in 2009 compared to the previous year as consumers more frequently opted for cheaper products. The market is estimated to be worth €200-300m, or, in volume terms, around one billion litres annually. The largest mineral water producers on the market are domestic firms. These include Romaqua, the producer of the Borsec brand, and European Drinks, the producer of the Izvorul Minunilor brand.
Apemin Tusnad currently employs some 160 people.