Kofola group co-owner Jannis Samaras. (source: SME - Marko Erd)
Before last year's Christmas, Kofola, a company that produces soft drinks, once again relied on its traditional ad depicting a wild boar and a Christmas tree. It has been used for 20 years. In reality, however, the company cut back on TV spots last year.
"We were more in the field. In advertising, illusory stories no longer work," says Kofola co-owner Jannis Samaras.
This is not the only significant change in the company's strategy. Kofola recently bought a stake in the Pivovary CZ brewery group, which owns well-known brands such as Holba, Zubr and Litovel, and also invests in apple cider.
During Christmas, your old ad aired again on TV. Does it still work?
It does because it has become a part of Christmas. This part of the year is a shorter, but stronger season. We have bottles with Christmas designs as well as seasonal flavours.
Throughout the year, your advertisement for bringing people together with the theme of love also ran. Did that work too?
Yes, love is always going to be a theme. In Slovakia, we limited TV ads last year. In advertising, illusory stories no longer work. We were more in the field. Since Kofola is also supposed to be about love, we were looking for ways to work with the theme. That's why we held several weddings at summer music festivals.
Buying Steiger is not on the table
The Kofola group recently entered brewing industry. Why did a soft drinks company buy a brewery group? What synergies do you see in this?
There will definitely be some, but that wasn't the primary reason for the purchase. The breweries will not be connected to Kofola and the ownership structure is also different [Kofola is only one of the three owners of the brewery group - Ed. note]. We were particularly interested in the fact that the beer brands are local ones; moreover, from the region where I was born [northern Moravia - Ed. note]. Their high quality comes from tradition. The soft drinks business is close to the beer business, and we understand the business as a whole.
There are big global players on the Czech market. You're not afraid of them?
That was one of our motivations for the purchase, to test whether we can compete with them just as we do when it comes to soft drinks.
There is a rumour in Slovakia that you will buy the Steiger brewery in Vyhne, Žiar nad Hronom district. Your co-investors in the Czech breweries have long-term managerial cooperation with it. What is your plan?
It's not on the table.
Healthy drinks take time to adopt
Your third quarter of 2023 sales grew by 9 percent, mainly due to the sale of the Kofola drink in establishments. Does it mean consumers don't save money, but they go to pubs?
They do save, because overall, the consumption of soft drinks and beer is decreasing, but at least we managed to keep draught Kofola at the same volume. The nice weather in summer and autumn helped us, but we are also trying to expand distribution and do good marketing. We ended 2023 with a profit at the upper limit of our estimates, roughly €51 million.
What about this year?
It will depend a lot on how the economy fares. It will also depend on people's perception of the economy. I think we could use a more conservative approach to public finances. In the Czech Republic, but also elsewhere in Europe, businesses that work are taxed, and those that don't are subsidised. More money should be saved, but that is not popular.
In the past, you fought against unfair competition. In Slovakia, there are still drinks such as Topcola or Lokálka. Do you still see it as a problem?
