FOOD RETAIL IN ROMANIA. MARKET OVERVIEW

Food trade covers the population's needs and is an important component of national security. The belonging to the common European market and to the global security structures, the domestic market potential and the economic growth have led to a constant increase of the interest of the foreign investors for the Romanian agri-food sector. The present paper proposes an analysis of food trade in Romania from the perspective of the development of international retail food networks. The researches revealed a spectacular growth of the different forms of food distribution as well as the preponderance of foreign capital and the bankruptcy of the indigenous companies. Currently, over 2,500 modern commercial spaces are used in the retail food trade in Romania, a sector where more than 44,000 specialized companies operate, with an annual turnover of 15 billion euros and offering jobs for about 180,000 people. Western retail food companies that concentrate on the domestic market put accent on the extensive expansion of distribution networks, by focusing on proximity stores, adapting the product mix to consumer requirements, and including national agri-food products in the offer, developing e-commerce and customer loyalty. Competition in the retail food sector will continue in the coming years, with changes in hierarchies and market shares, without excluding the emergence of companies with American or Asian capital on the Romanian market.