The accession of both the Czech Republic and Poland to the European Union means that customs duty on alcohol has now been dropped between the two countries, providing plenty of opportunity for producers of alcoholic beverages there to extend their exports.
Maso Plano reports increased sales
Leading Czech meat processing company Maso Plano says that its sales have risen by 25 per cent during the course of the last six months. The company said that it sales had risen to CZK 762 million. However, despite the increase in sales, profits slumped by 60 per cent for the period, down to CZK 10 million.
In March 2004 the company announced that it had received approval from the EU authorities to export meat to Member States. The heavy cost associated with the upgrades necessary to become EU exporters are thought to have impacted profits, but likewise the resulting increase market size has already reflected well on the company's sales turnover. From April of this year the company also introduced a system of barcode identification for all its meat products destined to EU markets.
Czech wine producer aims to up sales
Bohemia Sekt, a leading producer of wine in the Czech Republic, says it is aiming to up its annual sales of 35 million bottles through a concerted summer promotional and advertising campaign that will take in Poland, Slovakia and Belgium, together with the home market.
The company says that this is the first concerted marketing campaign that aims to bring its quality to wines into the international markets.