Romanian winery makes inroads into UK

A Romanian producer is set to invest €2 million increasing its capacity to 20 million bottles per year following an “unprecedented” rise in exports.

Cramele Recas saw its annual turnover increase by 15% in 2014, reporting sales worth €25 million. To keep pace with demand, the winery has announced plans to build a new bottling line in November. 
Its recent sales growth has enabled it to increase its yearly investment in vineyards from €3.5m to €5m.

Its success in the UK has been attributed to recent listings with Londis, Nissa and Asda, as well as the on-trade via Michel & Butler, Greene King, Adnams and Matthew Clarke.

Philip Cox, director at Cramele Recas, said it had been a “remarkable year”.

“The increase in demand through new listings and partnership with Penny Market have all attributed to a rise in demand”, he said. “This has led to an increase investment in new bottling lines, winery capacity, vineyards and staff. With all this new infrastructure in place we are confident we can meet the growing demand of Romanian wines”.

Sales for 2015 are already up by 20% to €30m, with 30% of its production exported to the UK.

Recas was founded in 1998 one of the two biggest producers in Romania. It exports 4.2 million bottles annually to the UK producing wines from largely indigenous grape varieties including Feteasca Neagra, Feteasca Regala, Feteasca Alba, Cramposie Selctionata, Negru de Dragasani and Novac, as well as Pinot Grigio.