Mercata, one the leading distributors of consumer goods on the territory of Serbia, has signed an exclusive six-year contract on business cooperation with Japan Tobacco International (JTI), a member of the Japan Tobacco Group, one of the tobacco industry’s leading companies and Japan’s biggest investor in Serbia.
This partnership further strengthens the position of Mercata on the domestic distribution market, both in the tobacco products and FMCG segments, as well as strengthening this longstanding cooperation that represents confirmation of the quality and professionalism of this distribution network. Moreover, this agreement also contributes to the future development of JTI’s operations in Serbia.
“Our partnership with Japan Tobacco International (JTI) dates back to 2001, and with this contract we will continue our excellent cooperation, which aims to contribute further to the development of trade on the domestic market. This is a new success for Mercata, a confirmation of quality and successful operations, and certainly a new incentive for us to build an even stronger network in the future, not only in Serbia but across the entire region. During the first five months of 2017, Mercata achieved growth of 10 per cent in the tobacco segment and 14 per cent in the FMCG segment, with which we took an important step forward compared to the previous year, and in the future we plan to more intensively strengthen our position as the most flexible distribution network on the market,” said Marcata CEO Peter Jagodič.
Didier Elena, Vice President and General Manager of JTI for the Western Balkans, said that the strong relationship with Mercata, based on mutual understanding and genuine partnership, was key to the company achieving excellent results.
“Marcata has been our exclusive distributor since 2008, and during this period JTI has become the company with the fastest organic growth. We have more than doubled our market share, which now exceeds 21%. We are one of the largest of investors, employers and taxpayers in Serbia, and are also very active in the field of corporate social responsibility,” said Elena, before adding: “JTI is focused on the goal of providing consumers with the highest quality service and Mercata is definitely the right partner to achieve this goal”.