By Neil Merrett
25/10/2006 - Romanian wine producers are set to face dramatic changes with their accession next year, as competition from lower priced imports from Italy and Spain threaten to flood the market.
Despite the general benefits of the EU free trade, an industry expert told CEE-Foodindustry.com that he believes that lower quality wines from the country will struggle against similar priced products from its Western European counterparts
“It is my opinion that many brands of lower priced wines (on the Romanian market price scale) will have a difficult time competing with imported wines from Spain and Italy – where the oversupply and EU aid given to those countries wine industry means very cheap wines – sometimes of a good quality,” said Philip Cox, Comericial Director of Cramele Recas.
Last week Recas Wines, one of Romania's leading alcoholic beverage producers announced strong sales growth, as improving quality and the benefits of EU membership continue to drive its export sales – despite a countrywide decline.
The company believes that it has benefited from a €3 m investment that allowed it to streamline its vineyard, and improve its production facilities.
Along with improvements to its production facilities the company has also increased yield of higher quality grapes like Shiraz and Feteasca Neagra into its production method.
As a result, Recas recently announced that it expects turnover of around €7.7m by the end of the year, a rise in sales of 20 per cent over those in 2005.
For all these challenges, EU accession appears to be helping the reputation of the country's wine industry.
Though Recas' growth may have occurred ”faster than the overall growth of the market”, Philip Cox believes the results also project a wider confidence in the country's wine market.
“A number of major European wine producers are starting to take the Romanian market very seriously- imports from Spain and Italy were increased by 4000% in 2006 compared to 2005! This trend will continue next year when EU membership will make it easier to import wine from the EU,” he said.
Despite the increasing profile of Romanian wine, only a minority of investors have as yet looked to increase the quality of ther produce, as domestic demand still remains strong for cheaper products. Philip Cox however believes that producers are gradually looking to invest in the quality of Romanian wines to cater for wider EU tastes.
”I think established local brands that are increasing their quality – will have no problem competing with EU wines at the medium to high price points, but companies that do not aim for high quality wines will struggle with the increased competition,” he said.
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*** sustineti [romania_eu_list] prin 2% din impozitul pe 2005 - detalii la http://www.doilasuta.ro ***
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