“Too sweet, too fizzy” – German test customers all agreed on that at the tasting of the different flavours of the “Natakhatari Lemonade” brand such as pear, grape or tarragon, which is popular in Georgia. Chakaberia carried out the test in April 2017 with a German marketing agency which he got to know during an event. Together they wanted to sound out what chances the Georgian best-seller had with German customers. However, no one had expected this sobering result. “That was quite a dampener”, says Chakaberia. But he did not let it get him down; he took use the Manager Training Programme (MP) as an opportunity to change his strategy.

A Niche Market for “Eastern European Specialities”

Natakhatari Lemonade, named after the spring that provides the water for its production, is a brand of Lomisi AG, which produces the major share of beer and lemonades made in Georgia. These products are already on sale in Germany; however, not in conventional retail chains. The Monolith group of companies imports the lemonade and sells it in their own MIX-Markt chain, which specialises is international products. Because the market has potential, Chakaberia decided to strengthen the already existing cooperation with a business partner from Bergheim in Germany. Roughly 12 million consumers in Germany are of Eastern European origin. In contrast to Germans, they love their lemonade sweet and sparkling. Furthermore, many of them know the soft drink from their home countries.