Sales of "Davino" have increased 20-30% this year as well

• Dan Balaban: "It would seem that 2012 will be a benchmark year for white wines"

Reporter: What was the year 2012 like for "Davino"?

Dan Balaban: This year wasn't bad, except for the month of August. Sales were similar to those of other years since 2009, in other words we are seeing an annual growth of 20-30%.

Reporter: What are the factors which underlie this growth?

Dan Balaban: First of all, every year we have an adjustment of our prices. We update them, based on what is happening in the market, but also based on the costs that we have. Also, we are looking to match inflation and we increase the volume of wine every year.

Reporter: By how much do you increase your output every year?

Dan Balaban: We can't increase it too much, in terms of volume. For the "Davino" range, we can't grow it more than 5% every year, the larger increase happens on the other brands - "Ceptura" and "Făurar", by 10-15% a year.

Reporter: Did you also replant vine?

Dan Balaban: Yes, we did replant, new vines started producing. This is where we get the major increase on "Ceptura" and "Făurar", because we only use the new vine for these two brands, not for "Davino". We will increase the quantity next year as well. Also, three years from now, there will be another increase, because we have replanted about 7 hectares of vine this year.

Reporter: How much did you invest in replanting these hectares?

Dan Balaban: About 120,000-140,000 Euros.

Reporter: Will you continue replanting next year as well?

Dan Balaban: Yes, we will replant 6-7 hectares next year as well.

Reporter: You said that "Davino" has seen increases in terms of volume, as well as turnover. Can you give me an estimate for the turnover of 2012?

Dan Balaban: I estimate that this year, the three companies in the group (ed. note: "Davino Distribuţie", "Davino Distribuţie Timişoara" and "Unicom Production"), will have a turnover of about 2.3-2.5 million Euros.

Reporter: Aside from the investments in replanting, what other investment projects do you have?

Dan Balaban: We intend to build a new, small wine cellar, with a capacity of just 10 wagons, where we will make the DAVINO red wine. For that purpose, we have submitted a project for European funds. We were supposed to get the answer ever since October, but we didn't.

Reporter: This is not the first time you have applied for European funds ...

Dan Balaban: It is the sixth. So far, we have taken out about 1.5 million Euros, and we have now applied for 1.4 million Euros.

Reporter: How did the exports evolve?

Dan Balaban: I think that this is the first year where our exports almost didn't grow at all. This segment is probably influenced by what is happening with the world's economy.

Reporter: What launches did you see this autumn?

Dan Balaban: For the first time we have launched the "Feteasca Neagră" in the "Ceptura" brand, which is the mid-level range of products. As you know, "Făurar" is the entry-level brand, and "Davino" is our premium brand. All of our wines are sold exclusively in HoReCa and in a few specialized shops.

Reporter: How was the 2012 crop?

Dan Balaban: From a winemaking point of view, towards the end of the campaign, everybody was saying that the year would be bad. Indeed, the year was warmer than usual, but the major problem was the water crisis. At first, we thought that we wouldn't have such a high quality like in the previous years, but ending the winemaking for the white wine, it would seem that 2012 will be a benchmark for white wines. However, wine makers that focus on quality will be more affected. We made the same quantity as we did in the previous years. We no longer made the selection ourselves, because it was made by nature. We were affected by the spring frost, which caused the selection to be 100% natural.

Reporter: But the quality is good ...

Dan Balaban: In the case of the white wine, the quality is better. I can't say anything about the red wine yet, because it is still in the barrels, we will talk about it in spring.

Reporter: How has the market you are active on evolved?

Dan Balaban: The market evolved well, there is an increasing number of producers which are focusing on quality, an increasing number of good wines in Romania, less and less wines with problems, the quantity of forged wines is close to zero, at least on our segment.

Reporter: What about self-consumption?

Dan Balaban: A political decision needs to be made when it comes to self-consumption. Being allowed to produce 20,000 liters if you declare that you plan to sell wine ...it's huge. And even more so if you state that you don't sell what you make, you are allowed to produce as much as you want.

Reporter: Going back to the consumers of taxed wine, do you think that they are getting more educated as time goes by?

Dan Balaban: Consumers are always ahead of us winemakers. I've always said that. People become more educated, they travel, they see things, they experiment, they have money to spend, tastes evolve ...

Reporter: Can investments still be made in this segment?

Dan Balaban: Sure, there is plenty of room, because overall, the market is growing. In Romania, 80% of the consumption isn't taxed. Therefore, the potential is huge.

Reporter: Thank you!