"Family Frost" has invested 7 million Euros in new branches in 2009

Family Frost had a turnover of 2 million Euros last year, and it estimates its sales for this year will reach 5 million Euros. This year, after an investment of 6.9 million Euros, it has opened 7 new branches: Bucharest-South, Piteşti, Galaţi, Constanţa, Timişoara, Oradea and Cluj and its car fleet has increased to 125 Mercedes vehicles specifically equipped for transporting frozen products. Laurenţiu Munteanu, General Manager of Family Frost, estimates that the company covers about 35% of the Romanian frozen products market.

Family Frost has begun its operation for the selling of frozen products on May 1st 2008, after four months of marketing its unique selling method. The company targets individual consumers exclusively. Laurenţiu Munteanu said: "There was almost no market for frozen products in 2000, both in terms of offer and of distribution. The beginning of the Family Frost business was a pioneering act, and it began with an investment of 2.8 million Euros, with three warehouse-branches set up in Bucharest-North, Ploieşti and Braşov, which employ 40 salesmen and 40 3.5 ton Mercedes trucks".

• The Family Frost selling system is "something else"

The Family Frost selling system was first launched in Romania in 2008, even though the company"s had a market share of 20-25% in countries such as Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal. At the moment, the Romanian market for frozen foods amounts to 400 million Euros, with the potential to reach 1.8 billion Euros a year, according to estimates by Lauren iu Munteanu.

"We sell those 60 frozen products through our agents, whom we train for six months", Laurenţiu Munteanu says. "Every month, our salespeople go on the same day, on the same street, at the same location, and at the same hour, marking their presence known through a tune that by now most people have come to know. One week in advance, the residents of the area receive the flyer with the list of our products, which bear a note mentioning the day and the hour when the car is scheduled to arrive. Once the car arrives and plays its audible cue, the customers can come outside and buy their chosen products. The system has caught on and sales are on the rise".

The frozen products portfolio includes impulse buy products (ice-cream), basic products (meat, convenience foods from meat, fish, vegetables and fruit) and pastry products with filling. Starting October 1st, the number of basic products on offer will increase, with the overall number of products on sale to increase from 60 to 100.

Laurenţiu Munteanu said: "The products in our catalog are imported from 13 countries, directly from the Eismann group or from its approved suppliers. The uniform of the salesmen, the delivery at the preset time, the clearly visible prices are part of the system that Family Frost enforces in all the European countries. The operation and distribution are coordinated daily, both from our center in Ploieşti, as well as from our headquarters in Düsseldorf".

"It"s important to say that we have not been affected by the crisis which has affected Romania and the rest of the world. The overall net turnover of the Eismann group has increased 5% so far YOY. Family Frost Romania estimates its turnover will double in 2009 compared to 2008, and in the case of Eisman Group, the turnover is expected to increase 8% YOY", Laurenţiu Munteanu said.