Local brewery Ursus Breweries, owned by SabMiller, hopes to see its Redd's sales volume up by 35 percent this year, with the recently launched flavor beer Redd's Cranberry contributing to the increase, Gabriela Cretu, Global Brands Director SabMiller, told Romania-Insider.com. “We can only compare ourselves to the Redd's volumes in previous years, so this year we can expect an increase of 35 percent, with a contribution from the launch of Redd's Cranberry,” said Gabriela Cretu.

Redd's Cranberry, with 4 percent alcohol, will be distributed under a limited edition until December this year.

This second flavored beer brand for women from Ursus Breweries joins the existing Redd's Fresh. Redd's Cranberry exceeded the brewer's expectations in Poland and the Czech Republic, where it was launched last year and where its sales were 150 percent over the initial forecast, according to Gabriela Cretu.

SabMiller sells the Redd's brand on more markets, such as Russia, South Africa and Colombia. Beers under this brand target women, which make around 30 percent of SabMiller's consumers.

Ursus Breweries launched the lemon flavored Redd's Fresh in Romania in 2008, and this year the competition on the flavored beer segment increased. Competitor Heineken launched Ciuc Natur Radler in April this year, made of beer and lemonade, with 1.9 percent alcohol.

The new launches came on an ailing market. Romanians drank less beer in the first three months of this year, mainly because of the cold weather and heavy snow in January and February. This exacerbated the unfavorable economic context, as Romanians tend to control their expenses more, according to data from the Association Romania’s Brewers.

The volume of beer sold in Romania was 5 percent lower in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period of last year. Compared to the peak year 2008, the Romanian beer market has dropped by around a quarter.

The Association Romania’s Brewers includes companies Bergenbier, Heineken, Romaqua, Ursus Breweries and United Romanian Breweries. These five companies together supply around 90 percent of the beer drunk in Romania.

Corina Chirileasa, corina@romania-insider.com