Alexandre The Great was a conqueror. During his reign of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon he expanded his empire into many other countries, making him one of the most notorious rulers of his time. Now there is a company striving for similar success in the drinks industry.

The Alexandrion Group, Romania’s largest producer of alcoholic beverages, was actually named after the ancient Greek leader and is fast becoming a substantial international player.

In 2017, it made Cyprus the home of its international business and it is now buying vineyards, building distilleries and exporting its products all around the globe.

The group recorded a 25% growth in turnover for the first half of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. This is equivalent to 5.24m liters from 4.4m.

Despite the surge of international growth, Alexandrion’s domestic market is still important and according to the company, the Romanian spirits market was up 6% in 2018. The majority of its sales are generated from wine distillates, particularly its 5 and 7 Star brandies which are dominant in the Romanian spirits market.

As well as owning Saber Elyzia liqueurs, Alexandrion has vodka and gin brands, but the group wants to conquer more.

INNOVATION

The group is trying to push innovation across all of its products, including the introduction of the first Romanian single malt whisky. Leading this operation is former Loch Lomond distillery manager Allan Anderson and he’s serious about the project. “I wouldn’t have committed to the project if I didn’t think the product could be good,” he says.

While the whisky is still in the ageing process, Anderson wants to add a variety of pot stills on top of the four already in place at the distillery in Bucharest.

From whisky to whiskey, Alexandrion has it covered. In 2018, the group announced a US$40m investment into a whiskey distillery in the US. The project is expected to begin distillation in the third or fourth quarter of 2020 and Alexandrion CEO Stelios Savva (pictured) says the company will immediately export its products outside the US, which will cover the operational costs, before slowly integrating its whiskey back to the US market. The company’s work in the US is expected to create 500 jobs State Side over five years and the Alexandrion as a whole doubled in size between 2017-18.

It’s not just whiskey that Alexandrion is expanding in either. The company recently invested in a new winery in Romania, with a view to expanding its wine presence. The wines already produced by the company are mainly exported whereas its spirits are predominantly sold locally, but its new global office in Brazil will see its spirits exported to South America.

Savva says: “It’s difficult to sell wine in Brazil due to the presence of Chilean and Argentinian wines, but with spirits we have a good chance.

“We are careful about expansion but we’re looking at three or four international markets. We’re an ambitious company so we would consider acquiring a new business – maybe a winery or perhaps move into hospitality.”

Another market which Alexandrion is targeting is duty free - hardly surprising considering the rate of international growth. Looking inwards, the top three duty free products sold in Romania are owned by Alexandrion.

“We want to develop the duty free category for us because I think our products suit travel retail as they’re still unique internationally and good quality,” adds Savva. 

The Alexandrion Group is a family-owned business founded by the current president Nawaf Salameh (pictured), who wants the company to become a global entity.

Savva says: “We’re open to collaborating with different companies on certain projects, but we don’t want to sell anything because it’s still family company, and we want it to remain that way.”

LOCAL LIMITS

There aren’t many brands which challenge Alexandrion domestically, but certain government laws can restrict the alcoholic beverage industry in Romania. For example local law states that the advertising of spirits can only occur after 11pm and any outdoor, public adverts are forbidden.

In Romania, locals are legally allowed to distill for personal use, whereas in most other countries around the world it’s forbidden. This not only puts people with limited distilling experience at health risk, but reduces the market size for distillers such as the Alexandrion Group.

Nicos Zygouropoulos, brand ambassador to Alexandrion says that the company offers to anonymously sample local homemade spirits in its laboratories to ensure people aren’t putting themselves at risk.

“We’re trying to educate people for their own safety,” says Zygouropoulos. “We also have an issue with people forging our products and refilling bottles to be resold. A delivery truck was even broken into because they thought it had bottle labels inside which they could use for themselves.”

However, it isn’t just safety which concerns Alexandrion Group, but the education of its consumers. In 2017 the company founded the Single Malt Society to educate bartenders and consumers on single malt whisky without promoting any brands and the group has plans to build a visitor centre with tasting rooms for the public to experience.

Aside from the drinks industry, the company hosts its annual Alexandrion Foundation awards ceremony, which not only pays respects to influential Romanians, but provides grants to the winners to fund their own projects. The company is also supportive of local sports teams and the group is keen to bridge the gap between the company and its consumers.

Savva adds: “We want to try and give something back to the community which is why we sponsor 28 students with placements to work in our distillery and we’ve worked hard to sponsor lesser known sports teams who need money more than mainstream ones.”

Traditionally Romania hasn’t been internationally recognised as a producer of spirits, but there are tight laws on brandy production and other spirits, which in the long run could give it provenance and a greater reputation. However the real opportunity looks overseas for the Alexandrion Group and with the US, South America and Europe now infiltrated, the next big market to conquer may be Asia. As with all great leaders however, the company continues to protect its domestic market while growing internationally, laying the foundations to one day go down as Alexandrion The Great.