Murfatlar, a leading Romanian wine producer, wants to increase exports this year by 20% after its successful efforts to regain foreign markets lost when the country broke with communism . Last year, the Black Sea Coast wine maker exported nearly a quarter of its production to the US, Israel, Spain, Italy, Finland, Denmark, and China, leading to sales of EUR 36 million, which the company expects to further rise to EUR 42 million this year.
“The main objective was to obtain and strengthen a leading internal market position. This is why exports were intentionally “neglected” at the beginning to focus all our resources on the realization of this objective,” said Daniel Negrescu, Murfatlar Brand Manager. Exports became a priority in 2006, after the company saw a 7 percent increase due to new contracts, Negrescu said.
Since 1989, Murfatlar sales were directed almost exclusively to the domestic market, covering more than a quarter of demand for wine in Romania, with only 1 percent of its wine output going abroad, according to the Association of Romanian Wine Producers and Exporters (APEV).
Murfatlar has some 2,600 hectares of vineyards, and its best-known wines and spirits are Rai de Murfatlar, Sec de Murfatlar, Lacrima lui Ovidiu, Premiat, Zaraza, and Conu Alecu. Its average annual production stands at some 15 million liters.
According to data from APEV, major competitors on the domestic market are Jidvei, with a 14.5% share, followed by Cotnari, 13.1%, and Vincon, 7.8%, all of them wine makers with narrower export market shares than Murfatlar.
Halewood International, Vinia, Cramele Recas, and Provinim are deemed Romania’s biggest wine exporters, although their domestic market share is lower than that of the before-mentioned four companies competing with Murfatlar on the domestic market.
Murfatlar’s Negrescu says that Romanian wines are virtually unknown on the foreign market because there is no promotion of a national brand and very little advertising. He said Romanian wine producers lack the power to penetrate foreign markets. Romania has some 100,000 hectares of productive vineyards, and the value of domestic markets is about EUR 450 million, according to information from the National Vine Growers and Wine Producer’s Association (PNVV). The association’s representatives expect a slight increase on the domestic market this year, following last year’s increase that lead to a stabilization trend. The National Institute of Statistics averages internal wine consumption at 27 liters per year.
In 2006, world-wide wine consumption rose to 240.8 million hectoliters, up 1.4 percent year-on-year, according to the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV). The main wine consumers are France, with 32.8 million hectoliters, and 55 liters per capita, Italy, with 27.3 million hectoliters, the US, with 25.9 million hectoliters, Germany, with 19.4 million hectoliters, and Spain with 13.7 million hectoliters.
