Перевод, Экономика. Тенденции рынка воды

Tendencies of the bottled water market development in Ukraine in 2008

General review

All players of the bottled water market 2008 were greatly surprised with significant reduction of the sector development rates. A certain, rather slight reduction was prognosed by experts in 2007. Indeed, in 2007 market growth came to 29% and the average for the period of 2000-2007 was a little less than 22%. It allowed analytics to look optimistically into the future: the prognosis for 2008 was exactly the average value of 21%. Though de facto according to Nielsen Ukraine the growth of mineral waters of Ukraine in the first 6 months of 2008 came to only 6,5%.

In other words one can speak of not just of the slowdown of market growth rates but even of the production volume reduction.

Record low growth of ukrainian bottled water market in the latest years can first of all be explained by macroeconomic quotients. According to the data provided by Goskomstat of Ukraine inflation index in the first half of 2008 was 115,5%. First food prices grew. Since rapid growth of the bottled water market in Ukraine for the last eight years was always associated with increase of the actual income of the population, the current drop of demand can hardly be difficult to explain. In our opinion the demand for bottled water is focused on the low-price segment, where regional and seasonal manufacturersof bottled waters come to the first place. Besides, weather factors played their role: compared to 2007 the summer of 2008 was not so hot in Ukraine.

Market leaders

In fact positions of all `tycoons` in the first half of the current year got worse in comparison with the same period of the last year. The only exception is the constant leader IDS Group holding (TM `Mirgorodskaya`, `Morshinskaya`, `Truskavetskaya `, `Truskavetskaya kristalnaya`, `Truskavetskaya zapovednaya`, `Staryi Mirgorod`, `Sorochinskaya`, `Alyaska`). According to Nataliya Matusevich, IDS Group`s development and marketing manager, the company has increased its manufacture rate and now, according to Nielsen Ukraine, the total share for IDS Group since the beginning of the year (january—may 2008) is 27,2%, which is 1.9 pct more than for the same period of 2007 and 2.6 times as much as their closest pursuer, Coca-Cola Beverages Ukraine Ltd. IDS Group`s disposals increased by more than 40% and constituted 25.6 mln. dal.

Some factors enabled such result. First, active promotion provided by TM `Morshinskaya`. In the first half of 2008 brand`s disposals increased by 43.6%. `Morshinskaya`s` share increased too, by 12.4%, which is 2.1 pct more than in the same period of the last year.

Second, this fivefold budget increase for the promotion of TM ` Truskavetskaya `, especially in the russian market, where consumer`s loyality for this brand is three times as high as for TM `Mirgorodskaya` (according to IDS Group).

Third, setting into operation three new lines on the Morshinsk plant of mineral water `Oskar` in 2007, also modernization of productive capacity on Mirgorodsk plant of mineral water in 2006.