Tag Archives: drinks

First Starbucks opens in Kazakhstan

DEC. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Dozens of people queued up outside the MEGA shopping mall in Almaty to buy a coffee from Kazakhstan’s first Starbucks cafe. MEGA had previously said two Starbucks shops would open in 2016.

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(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)

Coca Cola opens plant in KZ

DEC. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkish producerCoca Cola Icecek will open its second plant in Kazakhstan in the first half of 2016, the chairman of the government agency KAZNEX INVESTBorisbi Zhangurazov told media.Coca Cola Icecek will operate the plant, located in Astana, which cost around $70m to build. Kazakhstan is the largest market in Central Asia for Coca Cola Icecek.

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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)

Cigarette/Alcohol tax rise in Georgia

NOV. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s government unveiled plans to boost excise tax on cigarettes and alcohol by up to 50% to raise 90m lari ($37.5m). The tax rises have been triggered by a drop in receipts linked to an economic downturn.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Georgia makes bottle caps

NOV. 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an attempt to revive old Soviet factories and boost industrial production, the Georgian government invested 4m lari ($1.7m) into a new company that will manufacture bottle caps. Geocap, set up under the Produce in Georgia state programme, opened its first factory this week. The government has invested over 350m ($146m) lari in industrial enterprises since the programme started in June 2014. Georgia’s drinks industry is growing and is becoming a major employer.

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(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Uzbek wine industry attracts foreign investors

NOV. 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzvinprom, an Uzbek state holding company, said that two investors from Germany and Bulgaria were interested in buying stakes in Uzbek wine producers. The two investors, which Uzbek media named as Bever and Vinogradez Vine House, have signed a memorandum of understanding. There were no more details on the deal.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 257, published on Nov. 20 2015)

Georgia bottled water company builds new factory

NOV. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Healthy Water, the Georgian-Swiss company that produces the Nabeghavi brand of mineral water, will build a new factory in the western Guria region to expand its product line and increase its share of Georgia’s valuable bottled water market.

The new €30m ($32m) plant will open in 2016 near Batumi in western Georgia and add six bottling lines to the company’s production chain.

Healthy Water also plans to start producing lemonade, fruit juices and iced-tea. Funding for the new factory comes from a number of backers, including the EBRD.

As well as producing the upmarket Nabeghlavi brand, with its iconic green glass bottles and branding, Healthy Water also produces bottled water under the Bakhmaro brand. In 2014, it was the second-largest bottled water company in Georgia behind Borjomi, the most famous Georgian bottled water company.

Borjomi, with its slightly salty taste, dominates the Georgian bottled water market with 41% of the market.

Healthy Water has a 36% market share, split between its brands.

Healthy Water’s real aimmaybe the lucrative export market. It already exports its Nabeghlavi and Bakhmaro brands to North America, eight European Union countries, China, Russia and Turkey.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Coca-Cola halts Uzbekistan plant?

NOV. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Coca-Cola Ichimligi may have suspended its operations in Uzbekistan, according to a report published by US-funded RFE/RL. Tashkent residents said Coca-Cola products have disappeared from shops. Coca-Cola Ichimligi is reportedly linked to Gulnara Karimova, daughter of Pres. Islam Karimov.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Georgian winemakers feel Russian recession pinch

NOV. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s National Wine Agency said exports of wine fell by 43% in Jan-Oct 2015, a consequence of the economic downturn in Russia and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

More positively, exports to Europe and the US increased significantly and, so far this year, Georgia has sold 1.8m bottles of wine to China – an 87% increase.

“China is one of the most strategically important markets for Georgia,” the Agency said in a statement.

Russia remains Georgia’s largest market, although compared to the same period last year, exports have shrunk by 54% to 14.6m bottles. Kazakhstan outpaced Ukraine ranking second, while China jumped to fourth place.

Earlier this year, the Georgian National Wine Agency predicted a 50% fall in exports this year, as economic and political crises bite its most important customers.

Despite the fall in sales, the growth in new markets for Georgian wine should cheer its biggest wine producers — Badagoni, TelianiValley and Tbilvino.

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(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)

Georgian winegrowers protest against falling prices

SEPT. 11 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Several hundred farmers protested in the ancient winemaking region of Kakheti in eastern Georgia, demanding that the government increase subsidies for harvested grapes.

Eyewitnesses said that the demonstrations were passionate and angry but peaceful, although some protesters brawled with police after tension boiled over. There were no reports of any injuries and only three people were detained but the unrest does show how the former Soviet Union’s economic malaise is deepening.

A grape farmer attending the protests told broadcaster Rustavi2 that they will not back down, but that people are afraid.

“I demand a rise of prices. People are afraid of this government, they do everything to keep us quiet. What should we do?” grape farmer Murtaz Gorkhelashvili said.

The price for a bunch of grapes has fallen by 40-55% this year because of a fall in wine export to Russia and Ukraine.

Western-imposed sanctions on Russia and a sharp fall in oil prices have tipped its economy into recession. A civil war has heavily dented Ukraine’s economy.

In 2014 wine production accounted for 2.5% of Georgia’s GDP, a higher proportion than France, even, where wine makes up around 0.9% of GDP.

Independent consultant and freelance wine writer Caroline Gilby described how important wine is to Georgia’s economy and also to its national identity.

“Wine is economically critical to this small country with its limited natural resources,” she said.

The government subsidy, an election promise by the Georgian Dream coalition in 2012, of an extra 0.35 lari per kilo of white grapes and 0.15 lari per red grapes for farmers is considered insufficient by the protestors.

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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

Tea factory opens in Georgian capital

SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Geoplant, the largest tea-producing company in Georgia, opened a $2m plant in Tbilisi’s western district of Ozurgeti. The government scheme ‘Produce in Georgia’ provided the funding for the construction of the tea sorting and packing plant. The company said the sorting plant will help it increase export capacity. Geoplant owns the Gurieli brand of tea. It was established in 1996 and set up the Gurieli Export brand in 2010 to boost sales.

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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)