Whether it's a cheese burek and yogurt or kifle and a hot coffee to get you going in the morning, or a slice of pizza and an ice tea in the evening, Mlinar has been serving the needs of the general public in Croatia for many years. From freshly baked bread to various donuts, strudels and sandwiches, this bakery has it covered. 

Mlinar has been spreading its wings over the last couple of years, with its business stretching over to as far as Australia, and it seems that trend isn't about to stop yet, even if it's much closer to home here in Europe. 

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 19th of March, 2019, over the last few years, the company has been intensively developing its export placement and expanding its franchise business all over the world, taking to multiple countries and indeed to multiple continents.

The very first Mlinar bakery in the Scandinavian country of Finland opened its doors to the Finnish public on March the 16th, 2019, in the city of Lahti, at Vapaudenkatu 13. Just one day earlier, Mlinar's sixth store in Sarajevo, in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina was opened at Koševo 21 (otherwise, as far as the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina is concerned, this is the ninth Mlinar bakery to open in the country).

As Mlinar continues its mission of ''taking over the world'' with its popular baked goods, Mlinar's wise business move in opening a bakery over in Finland has occurred after doing the same in neighbouring Hungary and Slovenia, as well as in Germany, Australia, Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Slovakia, and Malta.

From our continent of Europe to as far as New South Wales on the other side of the world in Australia, Mlinar's easily recognisable blue sign can be found thanks to a set of clever business moves and the intensive development of its export placement.

Make sure to stay up to date by following our dedicated business page for much, much more.

As Lucija Spiljak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 30th of January, 2019, the Zaprešić bakery Dubravica has been operating since 1961 and is among the six largest in the Croatian bakery industry, with revenues exceeding 120 million kuna.

Given the steady growth in revenue and the demanding bakery product market, they have opted for a business step in the direction of modernisation to strengthen their position and become even more competitive.

Namely, in all Dubravica bakeries, customers can pay using bank cards and even via the Dubravica mobile application (app). When it comes to paying with a bank card, Dubravica will take Mastercard, Maestro and Visa cards, and their mobile application, made with the aim of replacing Dubravica's prepaid and loyalty cards, offers the possibility of paying without having to go to the location itself, reviewing the product selection and seeing if there are any deals on offer, and is available on both Google Play and on the App Store.

This Croatian bakery points out that the application also serves as an integrated map with the help of which users have the opportunity to locate their nearest Dubravica bakery. Maja Raca, Dubravica's retail manager, explained why they introduced these technological options. "Listening to the market and the needs of our customers, introducing card payments and mobile applications was a logical step in business. However, one of the most important reasons for introducing card payments was our desire to simplify the purchasing process for our customers at our locations.''

For a long time, Dubravica has followed the trends in payment transactions both in the Republic of Croatia and on the European market.

"During the period from 2008 to 2015, the number of payment transactions increased from 59 to 78 per person per year. On the other hand, developed western markets have already reached the threshold of 100 POS transactions per person per year. With the development of infrastructure and better acceptance for users, Croatia is expected to follow the trend of non-cash payment. So, we made the decision to introduce new ways of payment. We expect that in about two years, about ten percent of our retail transactions will be non-cash," Raca says.

"We're constantly trying to reflect on the needs of the market, diet trends, and follow the foreign markets. In that way, our customers have accepted salads very well as our new product group which we introduced three years ago, and their loyalty is constantly rewarded with seasonal flavours,'' Raca continued. Dubravica's ingredients are supplied by local producers.

"If circumstances permit, we'll always choose domestic suppliers," Raca noted.

''Over the last ten years, great progress has been made in the industry. Before, people went to the bakery for bread and baked goods, today you can buy freshly prepared sandwiches, pizzas or salads. The choice is really great, and in our rich assortment we have over 100 bakery products, we also sell coffee, dairy products and juices with them. In addition, the transformation and modernisation of the industry is also visible through the interior decoration that follows the highest standards of the world,'' added Raca.

Dubravica is continuing to plan on investing in their retail and network expansion, of which there are currently 35 bakeries, which will lead to very welcome additional employment.

"Regarding product innovation, we will follow the market and strive to meet the customer's changing wishes day by day," concluded Raca.

Make sure to stay up to date by following our dedicated business and lifestyle pages for more.

Click here for the original article by Lucija Spiljak for Poslovni Dnevnik

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 4th of December, 2018, every year, this Pula company produces almost 4,000 tons of varying baked products, and it's mostly bread and other rolls whose sales are continuing to grow.

Brionka, a Pula company, is the leading Istrian bakery and confectionery producer operating within the wider Rijeka area, and in early December is marketed popular and traditional dry Christmas cakes to mark the beginning of the festive season, as well as sweet bread with raisins. Over the past month, they have placed a new dessert on the market, namely a marble cake, and they are currently preparing for the upcoming placement of three more new desserts, cheesecake and cakes with a cookie which will be available at the end of this year or at the latest, early next year, according to Ivan Smetko, the production manager of the aforementioned Pula company.

As Glas Istre writes, in spite of numerous past doubts and the unenviable debts of Brionka's former management body, this Pula company is now operating positively, the salaries of its 250 employees increased by 20 percent, and the plans are to move to a new location in Pula or even in nearby Vodnjan where they could work from one place and thus further reduce the company's overall expenses, says Brionka's managing director, Mladen Anić.

As stated, this Pula company produces an enormous amount of food, with their production of almost 4,000 tons of bakery products, the most being bread rolls which have seen company sales grow by three to five percent. The biggest increase of 20 to 30 percent per year, however, is owing to the company's more salty range, including the beloved burek, which is commonly picked up on the go owing to the fast pace of life and the need for fast food.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for more information on Croatian companies, products and services, what's going on in the business world in Croatia, and doing business here.

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