Halewood toasts constant turnover, hopes to uncork US market

Wine producer Halewood ended 2009 with a similar turnover to the figure it posted the previous year, around EUR 10 million. In spite of the economic crisis, demand for wine has not suffered a major drop. “We sold cheaper than before as consumers chose more affordable wine varieties. We didn’t sell less in terms of volume but we sold cheaper and less profitably than in the past. However, this is something that we expected,” Dan Muntean, managing director of Halewood Romania, told BR.

Halewood has an average production of 42,000 hl in Romania, about 35 percent of which is exported. “Exports have gone down in the past few years as some of our clients have been hit by the economic crisis much harder than Romania,” Muntean added. The producer exports to about 40 countries. About 15 percent of its exports go to Asia but Muntean says that now the US has the potential to become the largest wine market. “Along with other wine producers we have set up an association to access European funds for the promotion of Romanian wine in the US,” the MD said. The project is estimated at a value of around EUR 2.5 million and will feature a three-year promotional campaign.

The company is not planning any major investment projects on the medium term but rather to consolidate its current position on the market.

Simona Bazavan

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