Cider/Perry in Serbia

PROSPECTS

On-trade availability keeps improving

Despite the fact that cider/perry products are generally not very popular among Serbian consumers, their on-trade availability had been consistently improving over the review period, a trend that continued in 2018 as well. These products took consumers away from flavoured/mixed lager products, which had been very popular and had grown strongly up to 2013, when cider/perry distribution and popularity notably improved.

Consumer base still dominated by female buyers

The majority of consumers purchasing and drinking cider/perry products in Serbia in 2018 were females. This is because similar “weak” and sweet alcoholic drinks are usually seen as exclusively “female drinks” by most male consumers in the country.

Distribution modernises

All modern grocery retailers recorded growth in total volume share of cider/perry sales, while independent small grocers and other grocery retailers declined. This was part of a wider modernisation process that has been influencing the Serbian retailing landscape for decades, but it was accelerated in 2018 with arrival of German discounters chain Lidl.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Carling and Strongbow brands about to disappear

Heineken’s Strongbow brand and Apatinska Pivara’s (Molson Coors) Carling British Cider brands were still available in 2018, but their availability dwindled towards the end of that year and it seems likely that they will be completely unavailable in 2019. These two brands were launched back in 2015 with the aim from their respective producers of grabbing a portion of sales from Carlsberg, but the attempts have ended without any tangible success.

One new launch recorded in 2018

One major new launch was recorded during 2018, when Carlsberg introduced a new Somersby flavour – Watermelon – in July. The launch represented a continuation of the producer’s strategy to attract consumers by offering innovative flavours.

No announcements that cider/perry private label lines will appear

Cider/perry is not currently a particularly important product in Serbia due to having only a pretty narrow consumer base. This situation is not at all favourable for retail chains to invest in private label cider/perry lines, which means that none of them have tried so far.

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