De’Longhi maintains growth momentum despite market decline

Romania’s coffee machine market is becoming more sophisticated, with people spending more on their home coffee makers, said Massimo Paronitti, General Manager at De’Longhi Romania & Hungary, in an interview for Business Review.

By Anda Sebesi

What were the main developments on the Romanian coffee machines market last year?

2022 was a particularly challenging year for our industry—not just locally, but throughout Europe. The war in Ukraine led to increases in raw material and energy costs, which were accompanied by high inflation, rising borrowing costs and, once again, difficulties with logistics chains and stocks. However, the market remained relatively stable, with a small (3 percent) decrease in volume, but an 8 percent increase in value, meaning Romanians are spending more on their home coffee machines. That’s not to say that price is not important. The market is getting more sophisticated, as people are paying more attention to value for money, quality, functionality, and design—meaning overall reliability. This trend is highly beneficial for De’Longhi, as our espresso machines enjoy an excellent reputation.

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What were De’Longhi’s results in Romania in 2022?

Overall, the Romanian Commercial Division maintained its upward trend in 2022, with the best results since its establishment: +9 percent compared to 2021. As for the coffee segment, we confirmed our leadership position with a 33 percent market share by value. We had a record high share on the manual espresso machines with built-in grinders segment, which are on the rise on the market: we own 58 percent of this particular segment in terms of value.

How is the Romanian market positioned in the wider group?

In terms of production and investment value, Romania is the main country within the Group following the opening and development of our two plants in Jucu and Madaras. We are aiming to become one of the main markets from a commercial point of view as well, as soon as possible.

What are your expectations for the coffee makers segment in 2023?

After the unexpected challenges we faced in the previous years, like the pandemic and then the war in Ukraine, we are certainly more cautious about making predictions than ever before. However, coffee machines remain our company’s main focus, and we are very confident in the amazing products we’ve already launched and those we are planning to launch this year. For example, we’ve recently introduced to the market the first fully automatic coffee machine that can make hot, cold, and cold brew coffee recipes, all at the press of a button. We dare to say the Eletta Explore is a machine that will create and develop new consumer segments for the market, such as the home cold brew connoisseurs and the home coffee cocktail lovers. With this in mind, I have a very positive outlook for this year, and even though we may face new challenges on the market, we will definitely maintain our leading position and growth momentum.

Massimo Paronitti has been the General and Commercial Director for Romania and Hungary in the De’Longhi Group since 2020. He first joined the Group in 2008 and in 2012 he was appointed as General Manager of De’Longhi Romania, responsible for the opening of the group’s first factory in the country. Between 2016 and 2020, he was the company’s Operations Director for Europe.