Research and Markets: Greece Food and Drink Report Q2 2009

DUBLIN--(Business Wire)--
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9e1f88/greece_food_and_dr) has
announced the addition of the "Greece Food and Drink Report Q2 2009" report to
their offering.

Greece Food and Drink Report provides independent forecasts and competitive
intelligence on Greece's food and drink industry.

The Greek economy has so far proven to be fairly resilient during the global
economic downturn crisis. However, we expect it to be caught up in the regional
downturn in 2009 and are forecasting that economic growth will come in at 1.5%
in 2009. The country will be hard hit by the worldwide collapse in shipping
activity we also expect the crucial tourism sector will suffer as consumers in
other European countries cut back on their number of trips abroad. Domestic
consumption is also expected to stagnate, and this, along with the fall in the
number of tourists is expected to have a negative impact on the food and drink
sector. A large tourist sector fuels consumption in a number of food and drink
sectors, including soft and alcoholic drinks. A decline in tourism is likely to
have a particular impact on the premium alcoholic drinks sector, where the
majority of consumption can be attributed to affluent tourists. A fall in
tourism can also be expected to have a severe impact on the food service sector
as visits to restaurants and hotels decline. Firm's with a large exposure to
these sectors can be expected to perform significantly worse than the market
average during the economic downturn.

In terms of domestic consumption the downturn can be expected to put the breaks
on the trend towards premium and convenience products and we are therefore
expecting food consumption per capita to stagnate in 2009. Greek retailers have
response by increasing their focus on private-label brands and on price
promotion. In January 2009, AB Vassilopoulos, owned by Delhaize Group, announced
it would invest EUR10mn (US$14.4mn) to maintain its current prices throughout
2009. The firm has said it believes that the long term benefits of this strategy
are likely to outweigh the short-term costs.

The global economic slowdown has also had a severe impact on commodity prices
which has left many Greek farmers much worse off than they were 12 months ago.
In January 2009, farmers rejected the government's EUR500mn (US$649.6mn)
assistance package and went on strike to force the government to increase the
package. This direct action continued into February with farmers setting up
roadblocks across many of the country's northern borders. By the middle of
February these protests were starting to subside. However, they demonstrate how
the economic situation can rapidly lead to political unrest as incomes
deteriorate and jobs become more scarce. Greece's farming sector accounts for
around 5% of the country's GDP and around 10% of the population is employed in
the agricultural sector.

Key Topics Covered:

* Executive Summary
* SWOT Analysis
* Greece Food Industry SWOT
* Greece Drink Industry SWOT
* Greece Mass Grocery Retail Industry SWOT
* Business Environment ..
* Western Europe Food & Drink Business Environment Ratings

Companies Mentioned:

* Unilever Greece
* Fage Dairy Industry SA
* Vivartia
* Coca-Cola Hellenic Beverages Company (CCHBC)
* J. Boutaris & Sons Holding (Boutari Group)
* Athenian Brewery SA
* Mass Grocery Retail
* Carrefour Marinopoulos
* Atlantic Supermarket SA
* Alfa-Beta Vassilopoulos SA

For more information visit
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9e1f88/greece_food_and_dr

Laura Wood
Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
Fax from USA: 646-607-1907
Fax from rest of the world: +353-1-481-1716

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