Greece: Olympic Brewery to expand in three new markets

Greece’s Olympic Brewery SA is expanding its activities in three new markets - Canada, Brazil and Russia - expecting the first beer exports by the start of the new year, Capital.gr reported on December 5.

Yiannis Hitos, chairman and chief executive of the company, speaking to reporters, said Fix Hellas will become the first Greek beer to enter the Russian market, focusing initially in the Moscow region. At the same time, Olympic Brewery will seek to enter the Brazilian market through a local coffee chain.

Olympic Brewery has established presence in 20 countries, including the UK, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, China, Cyprus, South Africa, Sweden, Hong Kong and Chile. In 2013, the company signed an agreement to sell its products in all Duty Free Shops in the country.

Olympic Brewery continues implementing its investment programme which envisages the construction of its own brewery factory with a production capacity of 15,000 tons, part of an investment programme for the period 2014-2015. The investment has a budget of around 10 million euros.

Hitos said the domestic beer market will fall by 2-3 pct this year. Olympic Brewery expects to raise its market share to 13.5-14 pct, rising further to 16 pct in 2014. Its turnover is expected to reach 53 million euros this year, an increase of around 17 pct compared with 2012.

The company also expects a significant increase in its EBITDA and improved pre-tax earnings. Olympic Brewery has a workforce of more than 230 workers after creating around 30 new job positions this year.

06 December, 2013