Romania’s Alexandrion Group launches spirits, wines portfolio in Japan

Romania’s beverage maker Alexandrion Group has launched its portfolio of spirits and wines, alongside the first single malt whisky produced by a Romanian company, the Carpathian Single Malt Whiskey, in Japan.

Alexandrion aims to have products in every country in the world, said Dr. Nawaf Salameh, a Romanian entrepreneur of Syrian origin who came to Romania in the 1980s for medical studies. Salameh currently leads the Alexandrion Group, with a global turnover of over EUR 200 million.

The company has an extensive global network, coordinated through business hubs in the United States (including Canada and the surrounding territories), Brazil (serving countries in Latin America), Dubai – UAE (covering India and countries in Africa and the Middle East), and the United Kingdom, where it coordinates operations for 41 European countries, according to Ziarul Financiar.

"I studied the Japanese market for two years and decided that it would be a very important market for us because the Japanese place a strong emphasis on quality, and Carpathian, the first single malt whisky produced by a Romanian company, as well as our other premium products, meet these criteria,” Salameh told guests at the launch of Alexandrion in Tokyo.

Attendees, such as high-ranking government officials or the Romanian ambassador to Japan, were served bottles of Brâncoveanu brandy, Rhein Extra sparkling wine, Hiperion wines, and Carpathian Single Malt Whisky.

Roughly four or five years ago, Alexandrion started expanding to international markets, with promotional events in Bulgaria, France, the USA, the UK, Greece, and Cyprus.

The group owns two distilleries in Prahova and cellars for aging sparkling wines in Azuga but is set to complete another distillery in New York. "Our ambition is to even establish a distillery in Japan," Salameh said the next day at a press conference attended by about 20 journalists specializing in the beverage and restaurant market, officials, and other representatives of Japanese companies. 

Salameh says that the company has expanded solely through its own funds, without loans, and that, for the expansion of Romanian companies abroad, special financing lines would be necessary. 

“We want to become trusted partners for Japanese businesspeople and convince the Japanese consumer of the quality of our products,” said Salameh.

He expects to achieve sales of several million euros in the Japanese market next year with all the products. The distribution strategy will target HoReCa and liquor shops, and a Carpathian Single Malt Whisky will cost about USD 60, similar to the prices of Anglo-Saxon whiskies. 

Romania exported only EUR 194 million worth of beverages in 2021, an increase of 20% compared to 2019, before the pandemic. On the other hand, imports were EUR 537 million in 2021, 70% higher than in 2019. Romania exported goods worth EUR 294 million to Japan in 2021 and imported goods worth EUR 359 million. 

[email protected]

(Photo source: Alexandrion Group on Facebook)