Alcohol, Baltic Export, Latvia, Markets and Companies

Aldaris exports increased by 34% to 29.9 million liters last year. However, taking into account a 34.2% increase in the prices of raw materials as well as investment of LVL 1.8 million into production development, Aldaris concluded 2011 with a loss of LVL 814,900, said Krastina.

Last year, Aldaris invested in modernization and development of production, installed new malt grinding equipment, introduced a new bottle caps technology, and 20 new products, therefore this financial index is no surprise. Also, 9.66% of the company's shares were repurchased from minority shareholders, and now Carlsberg group owns 98.28% of Aldaris shares, said LETA the company's CEO Thomas Kure Jakobsen.

The best result was attained in beer can sales, where the amount of sales increased 76%, added Jakobsen. The increase was partly attained at the expense of beer sold in plastic and glass bottles, where the total amount of beer sales decreased about 3%. This trend has continued in Latvia for two years already, and the country is gradually approaching the level in the other European countries, where cans is the most popular beer packaging type, he said.

Also, sales of the "Zelta Radler" have been highly successful, and sales of "Saimnieks" beer exceeded the projection 30%.

Commenting the projections for this year, Jakobsen said that beer sales could increase about 4%, and Aldaris turnover – 2% to 5%.

Several improvements have been carried out in the beer brewing process, which have been recognized by Aldaris customers, therefore the company hopes that the summer will be hot and sunny, because more than a half of beer sales fall on the summer period, said Jakobsen.

As reported, Aldaris posted LVL 1.11 million in profit in 2010, whereas the company's turnover increased to LVL 32.2 million from LVL 27.3 million in 2010.

Aldaris, a company founded in 1865, currently is a member of the Danish Carlsberg group. "Carlsberg" owns the "Baltic Beverages Holding" company, which runs nineteen beer breweries in seven Eastern European countries, including Aldaris in Latvia. Aldaris product portfolio includes about 50 various beverages in five groups: beer, drinking water, alcoholic cocktails, non-alcoholic cocktails, and energy drinks.