Striving for new peaks in turbulent times

In the German paint industry there is one manufacturer who seems to have laid an exclusive claim to white paint. Alpina and white paint, are almost synonymous with each other. The Germans in particular, have a special relationship with white paint, considering how often this colour is used in our interior decorating. However the question is: will this and must this always be the case? Since 2009, the sales figures for white interior paint in litres has been on the decrease in Germany - from around 96.67 mio litres to just 76 mio litres (calculated) in 2016. In spite of this, the revenues have remained almost constant due to increased prices (+ € eight mio from 2009 to 2016). However, there's no doubt that the market situation for white interior paint will become more acute due to changes in certain factors.
The entire market is currently characterised by the decrease in wall space, from the rare necessity to paint and from changes in legislation regarding renovation. As far as the DIY stores are concerned, they have been hit by the demographic change, the younger generation's falling interest in do-it-yourself and the change in recreational habits. 

In accordance with the results of a study, Alpina has updated the current sales figures for white emulsion and calculated a sales volume of 64.1 mio litres for the year 2021. That amounts, de facto, to a third less than in 2009. In order to maintain the current revenue, the average retail price of a litre of emulsion needs to increase from the current price of € 3.26 to € 3.87, to compensate for the yearly sales decline of 3.25 per cent.
For Alpina there's only one possible solution to this challenge: uptrading. After all, the introduction of the colour ready mix emulsion "Fine Paints" has proved that it's also possible to sell paint in the higher price category in DIY stores.
The company attributes its increase in market share from 6.3 percentage points within a year to 27.1 per cent (January - July 2016) to the launch of "Fine Paints".
Therefore, Alpina has now established a new category of interior paint "Alpina - Our Best", an upgrade on "Alpina - The Original". If things go according to the management's plan, this should become the new top range in the white interior paint category. The…