The price of this market report covers 4 quarterly reports on this sector. This quarterly report will be downloadable instantly as a PDF document, with the 3 remaining reports delivered at regular intervals throughout the year.

On account of unfavourable domestic and external conditions, we do not envisage a pick-up in Slovenia's levels of consumer confidence in the course of 2012 Ongoing deleveraging at the household and corporate level and stubbornly high unemployment (expected to rise to 12 9% by the end of 2012) mean operating conditions for many food and drink companies are still very challenging, with higher-end sectors finding things particularly tough We have also recently downgraded Slovenia's 2012 real GDP growth forecast, expecting the economy to slip into recession

Headline Industry Data (local currency)

- 2012 per capita food consumption: +0 46%; forecast compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to 2016: +1 10%
- 2012 alcoholic drinks value sales: +1 82%; forecast CAGR to 2016: +3 24%
- 2012 soft drinks value sales: +1 27%; forecast CAGR to 2016: +1 85%
- 2012 mass grocery retail sales: +4 39%; forecast CAGR to 2016: +5 24%

Key Company Trends

Slovenian Fruit Producers Consolidating: In February 2012, Slovenia-based fruit company Evrosad d o o acquired the country's second biggest fruit company, Sadjarstvo Jeruzalem Ormož Evrosad now has 140 new hectares (ha) of cultivated land, taking its total land ownership to 625 hectares The company's main produce are apples, which it are distributes across Slovenia and also exported as far as Scandinavia, Russia and the Baltics

Nectars Increases Its Stake in Fructal: A 93 73% stake in the soft drinks division of leading Slovenian brewer Pivovarna Laško was in mid-2011 sold to Serbian juice producer Nectar The latter further increased its stake in the Slovenian company in February 2012, now being in possession of 97 79% of its equity Nectar appears committed to the continuation of Fructal's local operations, including the modernisation of its two plants Nectar is expected to achieve some EUR140mn in Slovenian sales

Key Risks To Outlook

Downside Risks Prevail: We hold to our view that our forecast are at risk due to the precarious state of the country's economy and external headwinds, which is expected to dip into recessionary territory in the course of 2012 On the inflation front, we reiterate that major inflationary pressures are unlikely to build over the medium term in Slovenia, given the weak state of the domestic economy, weak domestic demand, the onset of greater fiscal austerity this year and the precarious nature of the eurozone economy

Click for Report details:Slovenia Food and Drink Report Q3 2012