Bulgaria: Carlsberg Bulgaria’s market share up 4.6% in H1 2017

The Bulgarian unit of Danish brewer Carlsberg said on July 18 its market share in terms of volume grew by 4.6 percentage points year-on-year to 30.3% in the first half of 2017, SeeNews reported.

The company’s sales in terms of volume increased by an annual 18% in the January-June period, Carlsberg Bulgaria said in a statement.

Carlsberg’s leading local brand – Pirinsko - increased its sales volume by an annual 14% during the review period. Pirinsko’s market share rose by 2.3 percentage points to 18.3% in the first half of 2017.

The sales volume of Carlsberg’s other big local brand – Shumensko - rose 31% year-on-year, giving it a market share of 10.1%.

Carlsberg's main competitors on the Bulgarian market are Heineken, through its local unit Zagorka, and Molson Coors which owns the Kamenitsa brewery.

Carlsberg operates two breweries in Bulgaria - in Blagoevgrad and Shumen.

Carlsberg acquired a majority stake in the Shumen brewery, in northeastern Bulgaria in 2002. Later that same year Carlsberg became the majority owner of the brewery in Blagoevgrad, in southwestern Bulgaria. The two breweries were merged into Carlsberg Bulgaria in 2004. They have a combined annual production capacity of 1.8 million hectolitres.

Carlsberg Bulgaria's product portfolio includes the Shumensko and Pirinsko brands, alongside international beer brands Carlsberg, Tuborg, Budweiser Budvar and Erdinger, and the Somersby cider.

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