Carlsberg increases market share to 28.4 percent - Somersby Cranberry to hit stores next year

Carlsberg increased its share in the Serbian beer market at the end of Q2 2012 to 28.4 percent, up 1.4 percent from the same period last year.

This company has invested about EUR 165 million in the domestic market since the start of its operations in Serbia in 2003, EUR 7 million of which were invested in 2011, mainly in innovations, representatives of this brewer said recently.

They also announced that they expected about EUR 7 million to be invested in 2012 in the company's further development.

Part of that money will definitely be spent on a new product - Somersby Cranberry, which may hit the stores in Serbia as early as next year.

Although not a beer (cider is a flavored wine), this drink has experienced a huge boom. As a rule, the first flavor that appears in the market (in this case - apple) is usually the best-selling one. However, Somersby Pear, which was launched second, is almost in as high demand as its predecessor Somersby Apple.

Reminding that Carlsberg Serbia was the only brewer in our country to have increased its market share, from 18 percent in 2005 to current 28 percent, representatives of the company stressed that business results in H1 2012 confirmed a stable growth of the brewer, thus strenghtening its competitive position in the domestic beer market.

Off-Trade Manager Andrej Beslac said that the beer market in Serbia had dropped 14 percent in the period 2005-2011 because of the influence of global economic crisis and additional 5 percent in H1 2012 against the same period in 2011.

Beer consumption per capita in Serbia amounted to 77 liters in 2005 and fell to 66 liters in 2011.

Noting that Carlsberg Serbia supplied its products to about 20,000 retail stores, Beslac added that a trend of a decrease in the number of retail stores was visible in our country due to a difficult economic situation, adding that the number of such stores in certain parts of Serbia was growing, primarily in southeast and western areas, where the unemployment rate was the highest.

Beslac said that the state suffocated small trade companies by imposing various taxes and placing a ban on the sale of alcohol drinks after 10 PM in stores in Belgrade, Kragujevac and Sabac.

Beslac reminded that the same measure had been declared unconstitutional a year and a half earlier in Novi Sad and announced that Carlsberg would join the initiative of a group of citizens advocating the annulment of that decision.

On-Trade and Key Account Manager Dejan Beko said that large market chains had had a 5 percent share in Carslberg's sales in 2007, adding that that share amounted to 15 percent at the moment and was expected to grow to nearly 30 percent until 2015.

This brewer's operations in Serbia are on a constant rise, a proof of which is its leap from the fourth place in 2004 to the second place in 2006, which it still holds, right behind the Apatin Brewer, which has recently been bought from StarBev by the US-Canadian Molson Coors.

Given that flavored beers, so-called Radler beers, have experienced a great boom, we've asked what sells better - Lav or Jelen?

- Both brands are sold equally at the moment – Andrej Beslac says to eKapija, explaining that flavored Jelen beer was launched only 7 days before their flavored Lav beer.