Bulgaria: Carlsberg Bulgaria increases market share by 5% in Q1 2017

The Bulgarian unit of Danish brewer Carlsberg said on May 4 its market share in terms of volume grew by 5 percentage points year-on-year to 27.7% in the first quarter of 2017, SeeNews reported.

The solid performance in Bulgaria was a major contributor to the overall good result of Carlsberg in the Western Europe segment, which the country is part of, the company said in a press release.

Carlsberg’s leading local brand – Pirinsko, increased its sales volume by an annual 15.3% in the January-March period. The Pirinkso brand held a market share of 17.2%, the company added.

The sales volume of Carlsberg’s other big local brand – Shumensko, increased by an annual 29.1%.

Carlsberg's main competitors on the Bulgarian market are Heineken, through its Zagorka brand, and Molson Coors, which owns the Kamenitsa brand.

Carlsberg operates two breweries in Bulgaria - in Blagoevgrad and Shumen.

Carlsberg acquired a majority stake in the Shumen brewery, in north-eastern Bulgaria in 2002. Later that same year Carlsberg became the majority owner of the brewery in Blagoevgrad, in southwestern Bulgaria. The two breweries were merged into Carlsberg Bulgaria in 2004. They have a combined annual production capacity of 1.8 million hectolitres.

Carlsberg Bulgaria's product portfolio includes the Shumensko and Pirinsko brands, alongside international beer brands Carlsberg, Tuborg, Budweiser Budvar and Erdinger, and the Somersby cider.