How Romania’s ice cream market changed in 20 years
Romania’s ice cream market, put at EUR200 million, has undergone a series of significant changes over the past two decades, from entry of new players to acquisitions among the companies already there.
The latest such move is the takeover of Betty Ice by Unilever. Anglo-Dutch giant Unilever bought Suceava-based ice cream producer Betty Ice from entrepreneur Vasile Armenean in a deal put at almost EUR100 million.
Unilever is now leader of the ice cream market, following the Betty Ice acquisition, and its market share stands at more than 30%, according to ZF estimates. In comparison, Switzerland’s Nestle had come to dominate the Romanian ice cream market in 2005, after an international takeover of Delta, with a market share of about 40% at the time.
Local players have developed quite a lot in the past decade, and gained a lot of ground, with Betty Ice as the best example in this regard, which climbed to second place before Unilever bought it.
“In comparison with the developed markets in the West or in the Scandinavian area, the local market is highly fragmented. In other countries, the two major players – Unilever and Nestle, account for about 85% of the total sales together, while the rest for 15%,” an executive in this sector said.
In 2017, according to the latest data available to ZF, Unilever accounted for 17% of the ice cream market, Betty Ice for 14% and Nestle for 10%, followed by Macromex (Mars), Alpin57Lux and Top Gel. This is the ranking by sales value, with the top three brands selling mostly mid-range and premium products. The market leaders by sales volume are private labels, with about 40%, according to the available data. Local players like Alpin57Lux and Top Gel are better positioned in this case.
Nestle was the first major international player to make a strategic move in Romania. Unilever came in full gear during the crisis, with 2009 being the first year in business for its ice cream division in the country. It entered the market by starting imports of Algida products and buying a local brand, Napoca.
This was Algida’s second try in Romania, after its first attempt in 1995. It decided to stop exports to Romania in 1998, leaving room for Romanian producers to grow.
Source: 2018 ZFEnglish