ROMANIA: Muller aims for up to 15% growth for the local business | Progresiv
The Germans from Muller, present on the local dairy market since 2008, remain at loss in 2017 even though the level will continue to decline, while the turnover will grow by 13-15%. The business scenario aims for profit over the next three years, said Tzafrir Granat, CEO of the company, an interview for Progresiv. 
"I'm very optimistic and that's why this company is still here. We still lose money, though less. I think that this year we will continue to reduce our losses, while increasing our business. By the end of the year we expect an increase of 13 to 15% in turnover. In three years we will be on profit. We are working hard to increase loyalty. We want to have more interaction with consumers. We want to grow into our important categories - fruit yogurt, desserts", said Tzafrir Granat.
In 2016, the German manufacturer reported turnover of 66 million lei, up by 10% from 2015, while the losses were almost halved, to 2.05 million lei.
"For us the first semester was good. We stayed within the budget and we have a 3 year plan with adaptations every year. What we did differently this year: we focused more on activity in the first half of the year, we began to communicate forcefully at the beginning of the year. We started communicating after January 15 when the world returned from vacation. In 2016 we increased our marketing budget, aiming to increase loyalty to the brand. Everyone knows the Muller products but the test level is still low. We tried to fix this by communicating, so the investments were up by 20% compared to last year, and this year we will keep the same level”, Granat added.
The most sold products in Muller’s portfolio are fruit yoghurt, where the manufacturer has a 2% market share, followed by desserts, cream, hard cheese. Muller signed a partnership with the Five Continents factory in Botosani in 2014 for the production of the Das Kaskaval brand, with the intention of expanding this type of collaboration with other local producers.
If at present 85% of the company's sales come from the modern retail sector, for the future Granat talks about the development of distribution on the traditional trade area.
"Our distribution in traditional retail is very low and it’s an area that we think of developing in the future. The investment is great, we need sales force and fleet. Traditional retail is important, even if it is experiencing declines. In modern retail we are present in all major chains except discounters", said Tzafrir Granat.
A challenge that he considers this year is related to the evolution of the milk price, which will impact the shelf prices of the products.
Muller entered Romania in 2008 through a joint venture with the Israeli Central Bottling Company (CBC). The company currently has 53 employees. At group level, Muller has approximately 5,000 employees and five factories in Europe. The most important markets are Great Britain and Germany.
