New market study, "Croatia Food & Drink Report Q2 2013", has been Published

New Food market report from Business Monitor International: "Croatia Food & Drink Report Q2 2013"

by Bill Thompson

(WireNews+Co) - Boston, MA - 21 March 2013

We remain relatively pessimistic about the shorter-term outlook for the Croatian food and drink market. Factors such as high unemployment, ingrained price-consciousness of the Croatian consumer and the struggling economy will continue to depress demand for premium and novel foods and beverages, despite a fairly well-developed mass grocery retail network across the country. Smaller domestic producers will also struggle to compete with competitively-priced imports, which are expected to increase following the country's accession to the EU in mid-2013.

Headline Industry Data (local currency)

- 2013 per capita food consumption = +0.9%; forecast compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to 2017 = +2.4%
- 2013 alcoholic drinks value sales = +0.8%; forecast CAGR to 2017 = +2.6%
- 2013 soft drinks value sales = +0.3%; forecast CAGR to 2017 = +4.9%
- 2013 mass grocery retail = +1.9%; forecast CAGR to 2017 = +3.1%

View Full Report Details and Table of Contents (http://www.fastmr.com/prod/552304_croatia_food_drink_report_q2_2013.aspx?afid=201) (http://www.fastmr.com/prod/552304_croatia_food_drink_report_q2_2013.aspx?afid=201)

Key Company Trends

Badel 1862's Stake Up For Sale: In January, local press reported that a 65.84% stake in the state-owned Badel 1862 is up for sale. The bidders that have made offers for the stake are undertaking due diligence assessments. Badel 1862 is the leading wine and spirits producer in Croatia.

Croatian Ice Cream Specialist Ledo Pursues Regional Expansion: In January, local press reported that Croatian ice cream maker Ledo acquired a 95.83% share in the Serbian frozen foods specialist Frikom. The Serbian company was purchased from Ledo's parent company, the Croatian food and drink conglomerate Agrokor. Ledo is reportedly seeking to increase its regional presence in the ice cream and the frozen food sectors. Just prior to the announced take-over of the Serbian company, Ledo paid Agrokor EUR20mn to purchase its sister company in Montenegro, Ledo Podgorica.

Key Risks To Outlook

EU Membership: In the event that EU membership is delayed or that EU funds are not put to effective use, it is likely that investment spending will come in significantly weaker than we are currently forecasting. This will clearly have an impact on economic development. In fact, the key risk to our outlook for Croatia's return to positive growth in 2013 lies in the gross fixed capital formation component of GDP by expenditure, with the eurozone sovereign debt crisis also compounding the issue.

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