Heidi plans rebranding and a larger market share in 2009

“We expect growth in 2009, continuing this year’s trend, which brought a 20 percent annual increase,” Erwin Vondenhoff, Heidi Romania’s General Manager, told Business Standard, adding that this business will not be strongly affected by the crisis.

“We estimate our business will increase by one quarter, considering that our strategy is based on expanding exports, which currently make up only eight percent of our business, but we expect this percentage to amount to 20 percent in the coming years,” Vondenoff said.

The company’s General Manager said that 2009 will be a very important year for Heidi, which will come up with a new brand vision, with new ideas and products. “Naturally, in order to increase market share we have to introduce new things onto the Romanian market, known for its poor consumer loyalty for a certain brand,” said the company official.

The value of the total Romanian sweet market amounted to RON 817 million (€241 mln) in 2007, according to the Nielsen market research company, up 25 percent from 2006. This market’s main players are Cadbury, Kraft Foods, and Supreme Chocolat.