“I do not believe the current financial crisis will affect Tnuva’s development policy in Romania. We have only been here for one year, and our objective is to grow as much as possible. We want to have excellent promotion of our products, communication with our clients, an increased market share, and the most extended distribution possible throughout the country,” said Shmulik Porre, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tnuva Romania.
Last year, the company, branch of the giant Israeli Tnuva, inaugurated a factory in Popesti-Leordeni, near Bucharest, following an investment of over €55 million. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) financed 35 percent of this project.
In only one year since its launch on the local market, Tnuva has become the third-largest producer of yoghurts, said Porre. It posted turnover in 2007 of RON 18.38 million (€5.42 mln) for less than six months of activity, according to official data provided by the producer.
Tnuva will launch Yoplait’s low-fat yoghurts in the coming days, due to a preference by Romanians for such healthy products. These products claimed market shares of 17 percent in volume and 22.1 percent in value in the September 2007 – August 2008 period, according to the MEMRB market research company, while fruit yoghurts had 24.6 percent and 27.1 percent, respectively, in that same period.
