Coca-Cola inaugurates a new bottling line in the Suceava County factory | Progresiv
Coca-Cola HBC Romania inaugurated a new water bottling line at its factory in Poiana Negrii, Suceava County. The investment allows the company to launch new packaging in the market for the Dorna brand. 
"We are investing 11 million euros in a new bottling line that incorporates state-of-the-art technologies and increased storage capacity. The new line can bottle up to 1.3 million liters of water a day and has a reduced energy consumption of up to 50% compared to the old bottling line", said Jovan Radosavljevic, General Director of Coca-Cola HBC Romania at the inauguration event of the investment.
The factory’s development and modernization project allows the company to launch new packaging for Dorna water this year. In addition, the new bottling line opened has a 44% higher bottling capacity than the previous one, keeping energy consumption at the same level thanks to improved energy efficiency. At the same time, the new investment will reduce the consumption of water used in the production process by up to 6%.
"Last year we increased our sales of mineral water over the growth rate of the category and we are still there. Water accounts for about 20% of our sales volumes and is one of the products we go with for export. We also deliver water to Moldova from Poiana Negrii factory", added Jovan Radosavljevic.
Coca-Cola HBC Romania currently has 165 employees in production and another 100 in logistics, in the unit in Suceava County. The warehouse has gone through the process of space efficiency over the past two years, so it has now reached a capacity of 24,000 pallets.
New launches in the local portfolio
Also in the bottled water category, Coca-Cola HBC launched in 2019 a new brand, Glacéau SmartWater, which supports the growth of the premium segment and meets the needs for a sophisticated hydration solution. The products are imported from Hungary.
Regarding coffee, the first year of the Lavazza brand distribution looks good, as Radosavljevic says: "Sales in this category are steadily growing due to our strong distribution system. We had an ambitious target on coffee and I think we will exceed our sales target in 2019. "
The Coca-Cola HBC Director does not rule out the launch of Coca-Cola Energy this year on the Romanian market, the new product being announced recently on the European market. This is a cola-taste energizer with natural ingredients without taurine - like in the case of classic energy drinks.
Coca-Cola HBC Romania operates in the mineral water category since 2002, when it took over the business of Dorna Apemin, built by businessman Jean Valvis.
The company increased its volumes by 8.9% last year compared to 2017, to 192.7 million unit cases, reporting increases in all categories - according to the financial report recently published by the company.
Coca-Cola Hellenic's sales in the emerging market region, including Romania, rose by 4% in volume to 1,143 million unit cases in 2018 compared to the previous year. Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, FYROM (present-day North Macedonia), Moldova, Montenegro, Nigeria, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine are also part of this region. Net sales in the region fell by 1.1%, to 2.88 billion euros.
