4 - Refresco.de

Strategic development
Since its foundation in 2000, Refresco’s focus over the years has been on growth by means of a Buy & Build strategy,
both through acquisitions and organically. We recognize that in this business - where consolidation is the trend both on
the supplier’s and the customer’s side - size is crucial to success. Year after year Refresco has shown significant growth.
In 2009 the economic situation was challenging for many
companies. Consumer buying behavior has changed and has
become more unpredictable. Spending per head has gone
down in every single category, also in food and beverage.
Refresco has been helped by consumers showing an increased
interest in private label products. The volume in liters Refresco
produced in 2009 grew with 8% to 3.4 billion liters. It was
only due to raw material price drops that the revenue slightly
decreased to EUR 1.14 billion.
Conditions on the financial markets are expected to further
improve in the coming twelve months. We are confident about
the prospects of our business and we will remain mindful of
our vision, to become Europe’s No. 1 manufacturer of soft
drinks and juices, whilst speeding up the execution of our Buy
& Build strategy again.
Focus on building
This year has been challenging for Refresco in the sense that
the financial market did not allow us to execute our acquisition
strategy in the way we intended. After years of rapid and solid
growth through buying strong companies, the ‘build’ in our
strategy has regained new focus in 2009. We were able to
strengthen our business by setting up dedicated programs to
reduce costs and by looking for organic investments that would
make the business grow.
We have been reviewing our European production footprint.
This has resulted in the closure of a production site in Germany
(Burgstetten) and the transfer of various lines between
companies within the Group in order to optimize utilization of
existing capacities. A cost-reduction program, together with
investments in high-speed production lines, has strengthened
the path towards full cost-price leadership in the industry. The
focus on cost-price beneficial investments will be kept very
alive in the Group. Every single decision in the total supply
chain of our products has been reviewed and rebalanced. The
current market situation means that we cannot, more than ever
before, allow unnecessary costs in our system.
“It is very often not just about doing things better
or cheaper, but daring to do things differently.”
It is very often not just about doing things better or cheaper,
but daring to do things differently. This challenge to our total
organization has made us more professional and given us
flexibility in mindset as well as competitive strength.
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