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Ivo Dimitrov: The whiskey category continues to lead the import Spirits market

Coffee&Premium Spirits Business Director in an interview for The Progressive Magazine 


According to your observations, how has the Spirits market developed for the last years?

It is a fact that Bulgaria continues to be among the countries with the highest consumption of alcoholic drinks per capita with more than 13 liters annually, and a significant part is still a local production. The tendency for the last five years is the import products to increase by nearly 7% in volume, while the local drinks are decreasing. Coca-Cola HBC is generating growths far above the average for the market and based on values, this places us in the Top Three of the leading distributing companies, and we succeeded to climb several steps in a small period of time, according to IWSR* data for the completed 2021, in comparison to 2020. Except for the proven quality, the reason for this success is due to the fact that the brands we offer are in the categories and the segments that are getting stronger in consumer demand, new brands development, as well as innovations in the existing brands.  An example of this are the various Jack Daniel’s series, the constant development of craft whiskey and Glendalough gin, the innovative applications for mixed drinks with Finlandia Botanical, the Jägermeister ice shots and last but not least – the limited series of The Macallan in the luxury segment with the single malts Scottish whiskey.

The whole interview with the Coffee&Premium Spirits Business Director in Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria – Ivo Dimitrov, can be found at the site of the Progressive magazine.