Stages of development

The Company continues to strengthen its absolute leadership position in the Ukrainian energy drink and low alcohol beverage markets, with market shares of 50% and 60% respectively. All of the Company's key brands grew and were supplemented with trendy new products. The share of PIT BULL™, the leading energy drink brand, reached a record 28% with nearly 25.5 million litres sold. NON STOP™ energy drink sales reached 17.8 million litres with a 19% market share. This success was driven by an increased share of innovation (such as brands entering new energy segments), a focus on high potential distribution channels and effective marketing projects. PIT BULL™ became the official partner of FC Dynamo Kyiv, and NON STOP™ started cooperation with the Ukrainian Professional Esports Association (UPEA). These collaborations have strengthened the brands' positions in the professional sports and e-sports arenas, respectively, and significantly expanded the circle of loyal consumers.

Sales of KING'S BRIDGE™ low alcohol beverages increased significantly to 9.2 million litres and SHAKE™ to 16.7 million litres. At the same time, the legendary SHAKE™ introduced a trendy line of non-alcoholic juice cocktails - SHAKE™ ZERO ALCOHOL – to Ukrainian consumers. The Company also launched a new brand in the low alcohol segment, LANDINI™, a delicious Italian wine drink in a stylish designer can.

The drinking water brand PRYRODNE DZHERELO™ achieved a 40% increase in litres over the year. This was largely due to the implementation of the Kraplya do Krapli charity donation initiative, which inspired many Ukrainians to choose this brand of water, helping to save lives and develop blood donation in Ukraine. Sales of EatMe™ healthy snacks also grew this year by 11%.

The Company made a quantum leap in the development of its beer business, with sales of beer from the New Brew craft brewery doubling over the year. The openness of the Company's processes, unique recipes and high quality of beer were recognised not only by consumers, leading media and opinion leaders but also by the professional community – in the form of a special award at the all-Ukrainian professional competition of Ukrainian mini-breweries titled “Quality Edges – 2021”.

The consolidated share of the Company's energy drink brands increased to almost 47%. PIT BULL™ strengthened its position significantly, selling 20.8 million litres of beverages during the year, giving it a market share of 25.6%. The development of its own media projects, Pit Bull Fight and Pit Bull Live, whose success was recognised with one gold and three bronze awards at the Effie Awards Ukraine, contributed to the brand's leadership and popularity among young people. NON STOP™ sales grew by 16.9%. The brand was extended to include the first all-natural energy drink in Ukraine – NON STOP™ Evolution. The REVO™ collection also received an exceptional new product – a limited edition of the low alcohol energy drink REVO™ Love Is. This year also saw the launch of a completely new brand, FRIDAY™, a citrus beer lemonade with a ‘creative frenzy’ concept. The key event of the year was the opening of a new generation brewery, New Brew. This marked the beginning of a new era in the New Products Group's history, as it entered the beer market to make craft beer available to a wider range of consumers. The basic principles of the brewery's operation are high-quality ingredients of local origin, transparent production technology and the absence of artificial additives. The local craft beer ZHASHKIVSKY KABAN™ and the regional brand ZHASHKIVSKE™ were the first to be launched.

The Company's energy brands continued to grow: GREEN ENERGY™ reached 6% market share by the end of 2019, PIT BULL™ sales increased to 18.8 million litres per year and NON STOP™ sales grew to 12 million litres. In 2019, we rejuvenated the concept and updated the packaging design for NON STOP™, SHAKE™ and APPS™. At the same time, the SHAKE™ and APPS™ lines were expanded with new bright flavours. The EatMe™ range of fruit and nut snacks was also extended with a new product with a unique balanced texture and coarse cereal fibre. In addition to strengthening and expanding the Company's product portfolio, we continued to work actively  towards completing the construction of a brewery in 2019.

The Company launched two innovative products: the first non-alcoholic energy drink in Ukraine with cannabis seed extract, GREEN ENERGY™, which gained 3.5% of the market by the end of the year, and the beer-based non-alcoholic energy cocktail, DIABLO™. 2018 was a record year for the Company's energy drinks category. Sales of the respective brands exceeded 40 million units, representing the fastest growth rate in the last six years: +31%. In the same year, REVO™, the Company's leader in alcoholic energy drinks, returned to the sales volumes of 2015 (before the excise crisis, which led to a significant price increase for products in this category). Throughout the year, the Company's brewery continued to install beer production equipment.

After a challenging 2016, sales of key brands REVO™ and SHAKE™ have recovered. Sales of APPS™ bottled cider increased by 47% compared to 2016, and sales of EatMe™ bars increased by 16%. The range of kegged beverages continues to evolve, with APPS™ and WHY NOT™ flavours updated, and the keg fleet increased by 25%. The Company launched WHY NOT™ and by the end of the year captured around 8% of the beer-based drinks market, approaching brands with a 3–5 year history. To expand its target markets, the Company acquired a German brewery and transferred production to the Zhashkiv site.

2016 was a challenging year due to unbalanced government tax policies. The excise tax on low-alcohol beverages was the highest among all alcoholic beverages. The Company decided to enter the fermented products market. In 2016, sales of APPS™ cider doubled. In the same year, the Company was the first in Ukraine to launch a new category of beverages (grapefruit bottled beer in kegs), as well as seasonal cider-based cocktails in the SHAKE™ line. The Company successfully launched an innovative bar in a waffle called EatMe™ and a thin brittle called CROPS™. Lebanon, Benin, and Germany were added to the Company's export markets.

The Company continued its transition to energy-saving technologies. 20% of its products were produced in enhanced environmentally friendly PET packaging, reducing the use of plastic by 11%. A new limited edition REVO™ Angel collection was launched. The Company entered the Chinese market with the SHAKE™ brand.

The Company began to develop new product categories. Focusing on fermented beverages, the Company introduced APPS™ natural apple cider to Ukrainian consumers. It launched POP STAR™ popcorn and created EatMe™ healthy fruit and nut bars to enter the snacking market. The Company became the absolute leader in the energy drinks category in Ukraine, with the combined share of NON STOP™ and PIT BULL™ at an all-time high.

The Company increased production volumes. New flavours were added to the REVO™, PIT BULL™, MOJO™, SHAKE™, and KING'S BRIDGE™ lines. A new low alcohol rum-based cocktail ROGER'S™ was launched. Fermented whipped drinks ZOLOTYY DZHMIL™, which was a brand new category for Ukraine, were launched. The overall innovation index (the share of new products in the company's total portfolio) exceeded 5% this year.

A brand new non-alcoholic product, a natural juice cocktail MOJO™, was created. Over 15 million packs were sold in the first nine months of 2012. PIT BULL™ accounted for 10% of energy drink sales in Ukraine. In terms of sales, the drink  outperformed well-known brands such as Burn and RedBull.

A new energy drink PIT BULL™ was introduced to the Ukrainian market. The Sales Work automated sales management system was launched. NON STOP™  became the absolute leader in energy drink sales.

The plant started producing soft drinks on its PET line. Sales of a new product, PRYRODNE DZHERELO™ artesian drinking water, were launched.

A new PET bottling line with a capacity of 15 000 two-litre bottles per hour was commissioned.

Construction began on new production and storage facilities at the Company's plant. The Company commissioned a new station capable of producing 40 000 litres of syrup per hour.

The Company introduced  the energy drink REVO ENERGY™ and the first Ukrainian alcoholic energy drink REVO ALCO ENERGY™. The Company started the reconstruction of the plant to increase the production capacity.

Production of KING'S BRIDGE™ low alcohol drink, the first Ukrainian cocktail in an aluminium can, was launched.

Production of the first Ukrainian energy drink NON STOP™ began. A new line was put into operation at the Company's plant, enabling the drink to be packaged in aluminium cans of various formats.

The Company's specialists created a completely new drink – a low alcohol CREAMEL™ milkshake.

SHAKE™, a low alcohol drink, has become available in Ukraine. These bottled bar cocktails became the first products in a new segment of the low-alcohol beverage market, which was not previously available in Ukraine. In the same year, the Company began exporting the drink.