We had the pleasure to discuss with Mr. Rob Curteis about some of the topics that relate to the beverages industry and are relevant both for the local and the international market. We hope you find it as insightful as we did.
What place do you see the alcoholic beverages being in now in Romania? What are some near-future trends you see happening?
It’s an exciting industry to be in right now in Romania. The HORECA channel is extremely dynamic, and there is an overall move towards premiumisation in the market. That’s even off the back of record inflation levels a year ago. Consumers are looking for new experiences and are experimenting more in their drinking repertoire. Typically this then provides a knock-on effect into the off premise as people buy the brands they’ve seen and tried in bars at home. So we’re seeing multiple growth opportunities in Romania right now.
What are some of the main challenges you face when it comes to marketing? Are you planning something special for 2024?
Every market has different dynamics and Romania is no exception to that. The market is increasingly competitive for both domestically produced brands and imported brands. Whilst we see high penetration and hours per day usage in digital, we can’t only build our brands online. There is also a continuing role for TV plus sponsorship, PR, and major trade activations in order to win. So we have to do a lot of things to get cut through and grow our market share. But we are fortunate to be in a position of strength as we are the market leader in Romania. In 2024 we will launch new partnerships and sponsorships which will provide a much broader reach in the market than we managed in 2023. It will be an exciting year.
Choosing a bottle for a beverage. What are some of the criteria you take into account? How important do you feel the design is? When is bottle personalisation a good idea?
There are some globally successful brands in terrible bottles, with awful labels! So there is no real rule here. But, whilst all the marketing beyond the bottle is critical to developing an emotional connection with consumers, to give them a reason to buy your brand, when it comes to that purchase decision in the bar or in store the bottle does the talking. So a good design, providing stand-out versus your competitors, giving a point of difference but without it being so wildly different that it is off putting, that’s the sweet spot.
A lot of brands try to keep up with Gen-Z consumers’ behaviour. In terms of wines/ alcoholic preferences, what do you feel they prefer? What types of drinks are relevant to them?
Well, let’s be careful here. Half of GenZs are under legal drinking age. And typically our brands aren’t targeting under 25 year olds in any case. That said, the younger generation of legal drinking age consumers have different drinking habits and consume media differently, so yes we are prepared for adapting to changing consumer preferences in the future.
Alexandrion being an international brand active in markets such as the US, Japan, or Brazil, what sorts of adjustments do you have to do to accommodate various cultural differences in terms of drinks’ preferences?
Many brands exist and operate on a global level but tailoring a brand to a local culture is important and can be very powerful. For example, many whisky brands have produced red packaging or found ways to use the number 8 in China, as they represent celebration and prosperity respectively. For us, we like to see how we can connect Carpathian single malt whisky with many cultures around the world. So we try to create whisky finishes using barrels from those countries, using a local winery or spirits producer’s casks. In Romania, we have wine casks from our own winery; elsewhere we have sourced casks of Commandaria wine for Cyprus, cognac for France, Chianti for Italy and so on. We are looking at what Japanese casks would create an exceptional finish as we finalise our launch plans there. The aim is to have 100 different finishes, representing many of the countries we will launch in providing a way to bring together different cultures with a great tasting whisky. Many countries have their own local spirits, such as Tuica and Palinca, and as an international company we are mindful of local preferences but our priorities internationally are our single malt Carpthian whisky plus our hero brandies Alexandrion and Brancoveanu.
As a spirits & wines producer and brand creator, Alexandrion Group owns one of the biggest production facilities in South East Europe – The Alexandrion Distillery – as well as vineyards/wine production facilities in Romania and soon a new state-of-the-art Distillery in New York (USA). The Group currently has offices and subsidiaries in Romania, USA, Cyprus, UK, Brazil, Greece and Bulgaria.