ROMANIA: Higher growth than the market for Tchibo in the second half of 2015 | Progresiv
Tchibo, the third largest player on the local coffee market, after Jacobs Douwe Egberts and Strauss, reported double the growth of the market pace for the second half of last year, due to the reduction of VAT. 
“The VAT reduction has contributed to the company's performance as well as the category’s in 2015. If you compare the period June-December 2015 versus the same unit of time in 2014 there is an increase of 8% of the entire market sales volumes, and of 6% for the roasted coffee segment. This, combined with more focused initiatives from our part led to an increase in Tchibo’s sales in the second half of last year, double the rate reported by the market”, said Noemi Varga, Marketing Director of the company for Romania and Hungary.
She also added that the economic environment was favorable, with rising GDP, lower inflation rate and level of unemployment that have also encouraged consumers to spend more.
Overall, in 2015 the market grew by 6% coffee and the roasted coffee segment by 4% (including roast and ground coffee, roasted coffee beans and single portion capsules). The most dynamic segment of the overall market remained the single portion capsules which grew by 32% last year, however, the speak of a starting point of few consumers. The most important remains the roasted coffee segment with a share of about 70% of sales.
"In recent years we have managed to stabilize our position and increase our market share, a success that helped repositioning the Tchibo Exclusive brand, and this year we expect that the new release, Tchibo FOR BLACK 'N WHITE, will help us keep the growth direction”, commented Noemi Varga.
In terms of Romania’s positioning in the Southeast Europe region, Tchibo representatives say that we speak of a potential market, but not as mature as Poland or Hungary, where the company holds a leading position in the coffee market.
Present on the local market with a representative office since 1997, Tchibo has reported a turnover of about 96 million lei in 2014 (about 22 million euros). According to the Romanian Coffee Association, total coffee market in Romania, including the HoReCa channel and vending machines (coffee machines for consumption on-the-go), amounts to about 370 million euros, most of the sales (300 million euros) being achieved in retail.
