The Spanish brewer Mahou San Miguel, which achieved sales of over 750 million euros last year, has announced it will be entering the Romanian market next year, albeit initially only through imports.
"At the moment, San Miguel is involved in extensive international expansion, mainly in Western Europe, but also into Eastern European markets, Romania inclusive. San Miguel sees the Romanian market as an opportunity at the moment," explained Nuria Teres, manager of Tinkle Spain, the agency handling press relations for the Spanish producer.
San Miguel recently signed a contract with a distributor in Romania and sales are scheduled to start next year. "The San Miguel beer will be made at facilities in Spain. After all, most of our beer sold on international markets comes from the Spanish breweries. We are not considering investing in production facilities in Romania at the moment, and our arrival in this country should be seen as a testing ground for the markets in the region, at least in terms of next year," said Teres.
She did not specify sales targets for the Romanian market.
"We sell beer in over 50 countries of the world and Mahou San Miguel will introduce only one brand in Romania at first: San Miguel, a premium beer for people interested in a beer that's more expensive than the average," continued Teres.
Mahou-San Miguel's main brands are Mahou, San Miguel and Reina. The group also distributes the Carlsberg and Kronenbourg brands on the Spanish market.
The Spanish brewer has decided to enter the Romanian market at a rather unfortunate time, with market leader Brau Union about to close its third brewery in Romania and the market showing signs of a slight decline due to a cool and rainy summer. "We are aware of the strong competition on the Romanian market from other brewers. We believe San Miguel beer is a symbol of the Mediterranean way of life. We are also counting on the increasing number of Romanians that come to Spain every year," Teres explained.
stelian.negrea@zf.ro
