03.11.2011 “Florina-Bulgaria” celebrates its 18 years birthday
One of the biggest juice producers in the country welcomes the anniversary on a leadership position
On November 3rd 2011 “Florina-Bulgaria” celebrated 18 years since its creation. The company incorporated in 1993 is one of the first in Bulgaria, licensed for production and distribution of soft drinks.
Today the company is the undisputed leader in the production of juices, nectars and soft drinks and the only one in Bulgaria with introduced BRC (British Retail Consortium UK) standard - a guarantee for reliable and sustainable system of quality management. It builds on previously introduced ISO 9001 & HACCP for management of processes and enables the company's products to be offered in all major shopping chains in Europe.
Currently the company has 5 independent installations for production of products in aseptic cartons and two for production in PET packaging, as well as an installation for processing of fruits and production of purees and concentrates. Since early 2011 the company is part of VM Finance Group - a business group, that manages strategic investment portfolio of 13 subsidiaries in various sectors of the economy. As a result of a coherent strategy for long-term development, the company's diverse product portfolio and proactive trade policy since the beginning of the year, Florina Bulgaria SA has achieved very good results with steady upward market trend - according to AC Nielsen in August, the company is a leader in the production of juices, nectars and soft drinks in the store channels in the country. At the same time Florina has made significant progress in stabilizing its financial situation. Although the registered increase of commodity prices in recent months, leading to shrinking of profits, Florina remained intransigent when it comes to the quality of its products. Company’s management has taken several measures in order to improve the financial viability of the enterprise with a focus on production efficiency and on usage of Bulgarian raw materials. The company recently produced purees of local fruits such as peaches, apricots, apples and tomatoes. This way Florina not only supports Bulgarian farmers and offers its customers products with real Bulgarian taste, but also takes a step in the direction of vertical development in the value chain. Florina applies best management practices and standards and seeks to become a good example in the Bulgarian economic life. The achievements of Florina Bulgaria this year in numbers are: • market share of 15.2% in shopping channels and 13% for the country; • growth of over 20% and market share of 21.3% in one liter juices and nectars; • market presence in 70% of the stores in Bulgaria; • increase in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of around 90% in the third quarter of 2011; • The obligations of the company were restructured and reduced, and it received new funding of 3.7 million euro; • After the investment made by VM Finance Group in it, Florina meets payments on all obligations as to this date it has paid 1.5 million euro state taxes.
