The most popular summer alcoholic drinks in Bulgaria are beer, aniseed flavoured spirits such as mastika and ouzo along with other spirits. In 2013, new favourites have emerged to shake the drinking habits such as flavoured/mixed lager or commonly known as “Radlers” and cider, with additional favourites such as white wines and rose wine. These new favourites are proving to be more than a fad and in 2014 we expect their popularity to continue.

Traditionally aniseed flavoured spirits such as mastika and ouzo are summer favourites in Bulgaria, although volume growth of these were more moderate at 1% in 2013 with similar expectations for 2014 due to the maturity of the market. These products are generally more expensive with high alcohol content but have still remained summer favourites throughout the years.

Beer remains the most popular choice, with about half of all beer sales generated in the summer time. Beer consumption reached 76 litres per person in 2013, making Bulgaria the thirteenth highest in consumption in the European Union, with 2014 expected to be of similar ranking. In 2013, sales growth in total volume terms was 2% with on trade sales performing slightly better than off trade sales although off-trade has a larger share accounting for over 60% of sales. The reasons for the retail channels dominance are due to its low prices and the popularity of the large PET bottles which pushed these prices even lower. Beer is one of the cheapest alcoholic drinks on the market and in 2013 prices dropped further due to heavy price wars and frequent price promotions between the leading players.

Source: Euromonitor International

The most popular type of beer is the standard lager, which accounts for over 90% of the total volume sales sold in 2013. The largest segments within standard lager are economy and mid-priced lagers. With the beer market being as saturated as it is, companies focused on promoting newer segments such as the new summer favourite, flavoured/mixed lager with its low alcohol content and refreshing taste.

While this category only accounts for a small part of total beer sales, in 2013 flavoured/mixed lager category performed the best from all beer segments and developed well above the market average, reaching double digit growth. The category is very new and thus expected to reach similar growth in 2014, especially when looking at neighbouring countries’ consumption of these products where sales have already reached 10-12% of total beer sales.
 

Source: Euromonitor International

Market leader Zagorka AD extended its Ariana Radler with a grapefruit flavour while it launched its Zagorka Fusion brand in retail friendly packaging as opposed to the 200ml glass bottles. Kamenitza AD concentrated on its Kamentza Fresh range, while Carlsberg Bulgaria AD extended its economy Pirinsko lager brand with a lemon-flavoured Radler variety in 2013.

Domestic premium lagers were also popular in 2013, with volume growth above market average, a trend which we expect to continue in 2014.  Manufacturers focused on the category as the price difference between the mid-priced and premium lagers is quite low and the latter are not much more expensive than the mid-priced products but have a better quality and image.

The economy and mid-priced brands have an alcohol content of 4.1-4.5% ABV, which has been decreasing since 2008 due to price competitiveness and margin reasons, while the new favourite flavoured/mixed lager has a much lower alcohol content at around 2%. As beer gets lighter in alcohol content, volume sales are pushed upwards, further encouraging consumption and reinforcing the summertime drinking habits with more liquid and less alcohol content.

A recent entrant to the summer favourites is cider, with rapid growth over the last couple of years. Cider has also become a popular summer drink for non-beer drinkers who are looking for something light to drink in the summer heat with low alcohol content. While cider was first launched in Bulgaria in 2006, it only started to become popular in 2012 with the efforts of Carlsberg Bulgaria AD and its promotion of its brand Somersby. Before, cider brands were imported mainly to satisfy demand from foreign tourists visiting Bulgaria.

In 2013 cider developed by 5% in total volume terms thanks to the focused efforts of Carlsberg Bulgaria AD to actively promote its cider brand and make it the brand of choice for the local consumer. The company remains the absolute leader in cider with a share of over 80% with its Somersby brand. The entry of Somersby had a profound impact on the cider market, which was previously very fragmented and thus has developed a following in Bulgaria. Although currently the cider market is still underdeveloped, its development pattern in the future is dependent on the promotional efforts of multinational companies to advertise and expand their brands. Already in 2014, we expect sales to slow down compared to last year and to stabilize at 3% annual volume growth.

Cider is consumed mostly by people between the age of 18 to 35 and infrequent alcoholic drinks consumers, similar to that of flavoured/mixed lagers or “Radlers”. Indeed, cider managed to grow on account of the ready to drink beverages by attracting consumers from this rival group. The most popular flavour is apple, followed by pear while new flavours are making their way to the market with blackberry launched in 2013.

Additionally, white wine and rose are also popular choices in the summer. While white wine has its local following throughout the year, consumption increases in the summer heat, with white wine popular on its own or mixed with carbonated water. Rose wine, an emerging favourite among professional urban females saw the highest volume increase in 2013 from wines with 3% growth and we expect the category to continue its strong growth 2014.

By Zsofia Megyeri,

Senior Research Analyst

Euromonitor International