The FINANCIAL — As one of the leading Georgian breweries Zedazeni plans to start exporting lemonade to the UAE later this year. The company recently won a Golden Brand award in Georgia.
Zedazeni offers three sorts of beer, five sorts of lemonade and an energy drink, and already exports its products to over 20 foreign countries. Georgian Beer Company Zedazeni has already invested more than EUR 45 million in its business. The company employs over 700 workers.
The production capacity of Zedazeni is 400 thousand hectolitres of beer and 300 thousand hectolitres of lemonade annually. The factory was designed by Czech company ZVU POTEZ, and constructed by a Georgian construction company.
“While summarizing the last year of operations I would say that we achieved big success,” Vasil Sulkhanishvili, General Director at Zedazeni Brewery, told The FINANCIAL.
“The main thing is that consumers appreciated all our products very much. Our products gained great popularity in Georgia as well as in our export markets. The Golden Brand award is good proof of that,” said Sulkanishvili.
Traditional Georgian beer Khevsuruli and German König Pilsener have been added to the company’s assortment of products in 2013.
“Khevsuruli is the result of the restoration of old Georgian brewing traditions. We researched the old traditions of making beer and developed the new product accordingly. Consumers have positively responded to the new product and we are optimistic that its popularity will continue to grow. Khevsuruli in itself is an entirely new segment of Georgian beer. König Pilsener is a German-licensed beer that we have recently started offering to Georgian consumers. König Pilsener is distributed in more than 30 countries. It is a premium class product served in high class hotels and other top establishments,” Sulkhanishvili said.
The General Director of the famous European brewery Bitburger visited Zedazeni in June 2012. “Our guests were impressed by the quality of the local beer. It absolutely satisfies European standards both in terms of technological and quality aspects. More importantly for our German partners was how this Georgian manufacturer has achieved such high standards in a very short period of time. They were happy to share their wealth of experience with us and we in turn told them the secret of our success,” declared Sulkhanishvili.
According to Sulkhanishvili, their German partners have allowed them to start exporting König Pilsener to the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The company is currently in the process of getting certification.
“Georgian beer is exotic and it is possible to establish the concept of Georgian beer. In order to achieve this, creating a good reputation is important. In general, reputation, quality and look are what sell a product,” he added.
Consumers first tasted Zedazeni beer last year. It is Czech-type beer. According to Sulkhanishvili the company is continuing to produce it to the same quality and standards. “Demand for our production is increasing. Consumers choose our products because of their high quality and taste. Quality was the starting point for our company from its very first days.”
“We were focused on creating a product that was unique on the market in terms of taste and quality. This is our main advantage compared to our competitors,” said Sulkhanishvili.
Zedazeni lemonades are marketed in Ukraine, Belorussia, Moldavia, the Baltic States, Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Greece, the USA, Turkey and Iraq. Sulkhanishvili said that the company is currently cooperating with its partners in the UAE in order to start export there.
Zedazeni lemonade has also gained great popularity on foreign markets. It received the highest awards in Moscow. Its Grape and Saperavi flavours were awarded gold medals and “Tarkhuna” (Tarragon), Cream and Lemon – silver. “We presented five products out of which all of them were awarded the highest prizes. Over 2,800 companies participated in this competition.”
“Entering foreign markets is related to various complicated procedures. Custom-house processes, occupying a place, introducing the product to consumers and establishing the brand – are the main objectives. This is a lengthy process which we manage to accomplish successfully. The quality of a product and it occupying a place on shop shelves are the main issues,” said Sulkhanishvili.
Pear, Tarragon and Lemon flavours are the most popular sorts of Zedazeni lemonade. Pear is also dominating on the export market.
Sulkhanishvili said that the consumption of soft drinks is the choice of consumers and cannot be banned on the assumption that all soft drinks are bad for the health. “The most important thing about our production is that we offer an alternative, healthy product. Our lemonades are produced from 100% natural ingredients. Offering natural, healthy products has always been the main credo of our company.”
“We buy the majority of our raw materials from local sources in order to promote local production,” Sulkhanishvili said.
Zedazeni is the first Georgian company to have started production of its own energy drink. Wilder is a brand new product made in Georgia.
“In 2013 the main challenge for us will be establishing our energy drink and increasing our share on the market. Energy drinks are popular enough on the Georgian market but we are now offering an alternative. This is a locally-sourced, natural product. Georgian consumers tend to be loyal towards local production and we are therefore optimistic that we will be more than able to compete with the imported products.”
“We regularly run enquiries in order to find out the preferences of our customers and provide them with the exact products they desire. When starting production the most important thing is to maintain consumer confidence levels,” Sulkhanishvili told The FINANCIAL.
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