Philip Morris Romania, a top-level Company on the Romanian Market

Source from:  Nineoclock.ro 04/29/2015

Philip Morris Romania close to having almost 1,000 employees * Otopeni plant's production capacity one of the highest in Central and Eastern Europe * A record high of almost 23 billion cigarettes produced in 2014

On Tuesday we saw for the first time the production line of a cigarette plant. Not just any plant but the plant owned by Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI), a world leader in this domain. Right from the start of this little "adventure" it was noticeable that things are taking place under the "Performance-Involvement-Flexibility" motto.

The talks and the witnessing of the actual production process have proved that we are dealing with a team eager to register results against the backdrop in which the sector is subjected to a lot of pressures.

Operations Director Irina Ashukina, Marketing Director Iuliana Paise, as well as Philip Morris Romania Managing Director Steen Hjortholm (photo), engaged in a veritable tour de force in order to convince the audience not only that the Romanian plant is one of the biggest plants in Central and Easter Europe, but also to project a durable future for the almost 1,000 employees that work in the plant in Otopeni, close to Bucharest.

Philip Morris has two entities: production and trading. Both rely on technological innovation and the optimization of distribution. These are Philip Morris's growth engines in Romania, as pointed out by Steen Hjortholm, who took over Philip Morris Romania at the start of the year.

"We constantly invest in research in order for the consumers' experience with our brands to improve constantly. In the last 12 months we have introduced on the Romanian market a range of innovative products, from brands that produce less ash and generate less smoke to those that have a firm filter and go out with a single move, having a package with special tactile characteristics," said Steen Hjortholm, Managing Director of the two Philip Morris companies present in Romania. "The results were not late in reflecting in sales figures. Ever since the end of last year we were able to see that certain brands doubled their market share."

"For Marlboro, our main brand, which was and remains the world's number 1 cigarette brand, we wanted to embody the most recent innovations, in order for it to be closest to our consumers'desires, while at the same time keeping intact the well-known taste,"

Steen Hjortholm added. "The Romanian plant took this innovative approach to the next level, by modernizing the package's design and it is the first Philip Morris plant that has implemented the "less-smell" attribute to the whole Marlboro RED family."

The company owns in Romania a cigarette plant in Otopeni, the result of an investment of RON 450 M, a plant that constantly exports to 16 countries more than half of its production. Because of flexibility and the very high level of production quality, the Otopeni plant registered last year a record level of almost 23 billion cigarettes, working at maximum capacity, in three shifts.

This year Philip Morris continues its investments in Otopeni, against the backdrop of the growth in capacity and production, by constructing a new water treatment station worth RON 2.7 M.

"Having one of the best-performing plants in the region, we can efficiently answer the changing lifestyle and the expectations of our consumers and we can be among the first countries that launch innovative products. This proved essential in registering a market share rise - despite a market on a downward trend - and will continue to fuel our performance in Romania," Steen Hjortholm concluded.

Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is a world leader in the production of tobacco products and owns 6 of the top 15 international brands, including Marlboro, the world's top cigarette brand. PMI's products are sold in over 180 countries. In 2014 the company had a 15.6 per cent share of the international cigarette market outside the US, or 28.6 per cent outside China and the US. Enditem