Soft drinks producer Kofola reaches deal on Croatian mineral water

The popular Czech soft drinks producer Kofola ČeskoSlovensko confirmed this week its latest acquisition to its broadening portfolio, this time the Croatian brand-name mineral water Studenac, owned by Podravka. The two firms signed an agreement on the sale but did not release details about the amount. The transaction is to be completed by the end of the year, according to news site iDnes.

Photo: Podravka

The makers of the popular beverage Kofola have expanded further into the Adriatic region, reports iDnes, signing an agreement this week to buy Studenac mineral water from Croatian maker Podravka. The news was confirmed by the company’s spokesperson but the price of the sale is being kept under wraps. The general director of Kofola, Jannis Samaras, told the news site that Studenac represented “everything the company was looking for in a brand: a long history with strong customer ties”.

The new acquisition, iDnes writes, will come under the Slovenian group Radenska which was bought by Kofola a year ago. Mr Samaras added that the mineral water now needed an essential reboot, which is something Kofola has proven very skilled at, having so successfully relaunched its own once almost forgotten brand years ago. Kofola is one of the big success stories in the Czech Republic in the post-1989 era. Today is has proven to be a solid challenger on local markets to international brands. It was at the end of last year, that the firm also began trading on the Prague bourse.

In terms of marketing, the firm has been no slouch. Kofola’s ads for its own name brand went viral before viral was common on the internet, memorable and aimed at both a younger market but also the older generation who remember the soft drink’s early years. The slogan Když ji miluješ, není co řešit – If you love her there is nothing to question, was catchy, as were summer spots focussing on summer and youth. A more recent campaign about a talking dog with a lisp or similar speech impediment (mispronouncing the beverage as ‘Fofola’) has proven to be even more enduring.

At present, Kofola has six production facilities sited in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia and employs 2,000 people; 700 of that number work in the Czech Republic.