A new dynasty in the Hungarian mineral water market

Szentkirályi Ásványvíz Kft. and Central Europe’s biggest mineral water bottling company, Karlovarské Minerální Vody (KMV) from the Czech Republic entered into a strategic partnership this spring. One of the co-owners of the new holding, Central European Mineral Water (CEMW), Alessandro Pasquale shared some details with our magazine about the holding, their objectives and opportunities. He told that they had chosen Hungary because it has excellent mineral water resources and per capita mineral water consumption is one of the highest in Europe, having increased by 700 percent in the last 20 years. In the meantime mineral water’s consumption price only grew 17 percent. However, this doesn’t mean that the company will try to generate bigger profit by increasing prices: the owners believe in sales growth achieved by innovating, educating consumers and building brands. A good example of these efforts is Magnesia, a mineral water that has recently become the company’s most popular brand in Central Europe. In Hungary the CEMW Holding concentrates on the two leading brands, Theodora and Szentkirályi, but in 2016 new products will appear in shops in three categories. At the moment the holding is busy uniting the two companies at the level of daily work, but the long-term goal is to become the leading mineral water company in Central Europe.