ZAGREB, November 18, 2019 - The 14th edition of the wine and food festival "VINOcom" will be held in Zagreb's Hotel Esplanade on November 22 and 23 with more than 300 exhibitors taking part in the event.

The exhibitors are mostly wine makers and producers of delicatessen products from Croatia and Europe and Slovakia is this year's country-partner, the festival's organisers told a press conference on Monday.

"Zagreb VINOcom in one of the oldest festivals in Croatia that promotes wine, food and general table etiquette. I believe that this year again it will attract a large number of visitors and experts and I hope that we will meet their expectations similarly to previous years," the festival's director, Ivan Dropuljić said.

Apart from presenting and providing tasting of more than 200 types of wine, and lots of different cheeses, prosciutto, kulen salami and sweets, about a dozen workshops will be organised during the festival.

Speaking on behalf of Slovakia as the country-partner of this year's festival, public relations consultant in the Slovak Embassy in Zagreb, Jan Stark, said that he was pleased with the cooperation which he believes can continue considering the similarities between the two countries.

"Three wine-makers from Slovakia will be exhibiting and talks are already underway about continuing cooperation so that Croatian wines can be presented in Bratislava and Slovak wines in Zagreb. Slovakia has a long tradition of wine-making and over the past few years it has won medals at international wine competitions," Stark underscored, adding that Slovakia's per capita wine consumption is 12.5 litres annually and that about 600,000 hectolitres of wine is produced each year.

This year as in previous years the festival will have a humanitarian component and part of proceeds will be donated to the RokOtok association which promotes strengthening ties between children and parents through various activities.

More festival news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, November 18, 2019 - "Croatian Desserts: 50 Authentic Recipes to Make at Home", the first English-language cookbook of Croatian sweets by Andrea Pisac, was launched at the Bulldog gastro pub in Zagreb earlier this week.

The 224-page lavishly designed book includes 515 photographs and easy-to-make recipes for 50 traditional cakes from all regions of Croatia and the Adriatic islands. It features recipes for both well-known cakes, such as walnut and poppy-seed rolls, and lesser known ones, such as Kaiserschmarrn.

The author said she selected the most representative cakes, bearing in mind that many readers do not live in Croatia and all ingredients are not always available to them. She said the recipes are easy to follow both by those who weigh the ingredients on scales and those who measure them with cups or spoons.

The book was initially published as an e-book, and this year Pisac started her own publishing house and issued the print version. The cookbook is the result of years of her research of traditional and self-sustainable cooking and her culinary passion.

Pisac said that her cookbook is yet another authentic Croatian souvenir, noting that one of the ways of getting to know a country and its culture is through its gastronomy.

Pisac is a doctor of anthropology, writer and travel blogger. She is the recipient of a City of Zagreb award for her contribution to the promotion of Croatian culture.

More cooking news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, November 4, 2019 - The Green List on Sunday sent an open letter to Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković calling on authorities to step up control on honey on the domestic market, as this non-parliamentary party believes that there are some fraudulent activities considering the quality of this food to the detriment of consumers.

The Green List insists on the correct labelling so that consumers can know the origin of honey on the market.

It also insists on the immediate ban on glyphosate and other products for agricultural weed control which affect bees.

The list says that Croatia has ecological, climate and other comparative advantages for the honey production that can meet the domestic needs as well as demand from abroad.

Croatian bee-keepers are definitely ready for such production, with the support of the state authorities and consumers, reads the open letter.

The authorities should perform large-scale controls on a more frequent basis and consumers should be aware that they cannot buy authentic product at the price lower than 50 kuna per kilo.

The list supports the nation-wide action about Croatian primary school pupils being taught about the importance of honey in their food. As part of the campaign, each first grader is to get a jar of Croatian honey produced by local beekeepers.

The list says that although the imports in the first half of 2019 dropped by 57% on the year, the agriculture ministry is supposed to take some more actions to support local 10,000 beekeepers and honey consumers.

More food news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, October 16, 2019 - On the occasion of World Food Day, marked on October 16, the Centre for the Prevention of Food Waste on Wednesday warned that one-third of all food is thrown out due to poor storage and excessive buying, about which it wants to warn with the "Food is not Waste" campaign.

According to the centre's head, Barbara Ilakovac, it is estimated that about 380,000 tonnes of food is thrown away in Croatia each year.

According to a survey of 350 respondents, only about 11% of the food thrown away is inedible.

Fruit and vegetables account for the major portion of food thrown away (45%), followed by bakery products (9%), while fish is rarely thrown away (3%).

An information stand has been set up at the Dolac farmers' market to inform people of recycling, proper storage, planned shopping, and all with the aim of reducing the amount of food waste.

Ilakovac advised that informing and educating citizens is exceptionally important in the process of reducing the amount of food thrown away, adding that in Croatia and the EU households throw away the most food.

"Citizens' awareness of separating waste is not at a high level in Croatia and food waste accounts for a large portion of utility waste. As much as 53% of food waste is produced by households," she said.

"Due to its composition and degradation, that waste emits a large quantity of methane, which is exceptionally detrimental to the environment. It is essential to reduce the amount of waste, and prevention and redistribution of excess food helps a lot, which is something the European food waste management hierarchy recommends," Ilakovac said.

The European Commission's "waste hierarchy" sets the priority order when shaping waste policy and managing waste at the operational level.

More food news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, October 13, 2019 - A new plant of Croatian fresh pasta manufacturer Naše Klasje, in which over 38 million kuna has been invested, was inaugurated near Zaprešić, just west of Zagreb, on Saturday.

The plant spreads over 3,000 square metres. The European Regional Development Fund co-financed the project with 15 million kuna.

Inaugurating the plant, Deputy Prime Minister Davor Božinović said this investment was an example of good synergy between entrepreneurs and local government, and that it was in line with the government's policy of partnership with local government.

"It's important to create conditions so that companies like Naše Klasje can progress and expand production. It's the only way we can move forward, create new values and connect innovation, knowledge and tradition," he said.

Naše Klasje owner and director Zoran Šimunić said the company's goal was to boost exports. Over the past seven years, the company has been exporting over 35% of its product and the goal is to surpass 50%. The company exports to ten countries, from Greece to Germany, and a contract was signed last week to export to Sweden.

Šimunić told reporters Croatia still did not produce enough pasta and that import was considerable, although it dropped from 94% in 2000 to 50% in 2009, despite a constant rise in consumption.

Croatian Chamber of Commerce president Luka Burilović said the food industry accounted for the highest share in total employment and GDP, and that agricultural and food products accounted for 14% of commodity exports last year.

Over the past 20 years, pasta production in Croatia has faced increased competition due to the liberalisation of the market, which prompted some companies, including Naše Klasje, to see this market openness as an opportunity and invest in new plants to increase production and exports.

Naše Klasje employs 40 people and plans to hire another 12. It was established in 2001 as a greenfield investment in food production.

More business news can be found in the dedicated section.

ZAGREB, September 20, 2019 - Parliament on Friday debated on a bill on genetically modified organisms (GMO), with most lawmakers asking whether the bill will enable GMO products to enter the Croatian market, while the State Secretary at the Health Ministry, Željko Plazonić, resolutely denied any such possibility, stressing that the bill in fact tightened controls.

The bill harmonises Croatia's legislation with the EU directive that relates to GMO and elaborates how to estimate the risk of GMO for the environment, it improves the traceability of GMO products and tightens controls, and restricts the use and effects of using GMO products, Plazonić said.

He dispelled fears that Croatians would be flooded with GMO products and become laboratory rats for GMO, saying that controls would be tightened.

As far as introducing GMO or banning its use for agricultural purposes, the EU directive enables each member state to decide whether it will ban it or not, he said.

Željko Jovanović (SDP) expressed hope that there would be no public hysteria or unjustified alarms again as the bill goes in favour of opponents of GMO.

The most important difference in the new bill is that it envisages keeping records of the use of medicines and medicinal products containing GMO in clinical tests, genetic therapy, prevention and treatment.

"Not one country in the world can be totally GMO free because that would mean that we could not conduct bio-medical research or produce medicines and antibiotics," said Jovanović.

Josip Križanić (HDZ) noted that in the first three months of 2019 the Health Ministry conducted tests on 92 food samples and all were negative for GMO, adding that in 2018 the Agriculture Ministry did not find any traces of GMO in seeds.

All Croatian counties wish to remain GMO free and this bill should ensure that, Davor Vlaović (HSS) said and called for a second reading of the bill until which the bill should be amended to ban experiments with GMO on open fields.

Miro Bulj of the MOST party said that his party would send a new bill to parliament that will completely ban GMO in Croatia.

The first reading of the bill received support from both the ruling majority and the opposition.

More news about food in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, August 24, 2019 - An official of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), Dragan Kovačević, has said during the ceremony of opening a prosciutto festival in Drniš that over the past five years 150 million kuna has been invested in new plants for prosciutto production in Croatia.

"Although the current prosciutto production meets less than 50% of the demand in Croatia, the encouraging fact is that in the last five years, 150 million kuna has been invested in new plants for prosciutto production," Kovačević says adding that prosciutto can be an additional value for the tourist trade.

The two-day international festival in the town in the Dalmatian hinterland was opened on Friday, and apart from the promotion of prosciutto, also homemade cheese, wines, honey and other local food were put on display during the event.

Five years ago, 250,000 prosciutto hams were produced in Croatia, and currently the annual production is 400,000. The portion of domestic raw material in those final products has risen from 10% to 50% over the past 10 years. Consumption of prosciutto has increased by 50% over the past five years.

So far, Drniš, Istrian, Krk and Dalmatian prosciuttos have been included in the EU register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications. Thea are among the 21 Croatian traditional products protected by this EU register.

More news about the food production in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

July 12, 2019 - A meeting of minds between the Financial Times and the late, great Anthony Bourdain, who concluded the same thing 8 years apart - Croatia is the next big foodie destination

“This is world-class food, world-class wine, world-class cheese. The next big thing is Croatia,” enthused the late chef Anthony Bourdain when he first visited the country in late 2011. “If you haven’t been here, you’re an idiot.” Bourdain’s surprise at the gastronomic riches of Croatia was perhaps understandable. For thousands of years, the region had it all: salt production along the coast, started by the Liburnians well before the 1st century BC, plentiful fish from the clear waters of the Adriatic, a climate ideal for wine production, and olive oil that was prized above all others. In the 1st century AD the Greek epicure Apicius suggested adding bay leaves, cypress root and salt to Spanish oil so that it tasted more like the Liburnian version.

And so begins an excellent and in-depth piece by the FT, which came to exactly the same conclusion as Bourdain after his infamous visit to Croatia in 2011. You can read the full article here.

Whereas Bourdain travelled the whole coast for his No Reservations programme, the FT focused on one small region - the area around Zadar. Highlights included a visit to iconic winemaker Alen Bibic, the tuna farms of Ugljan, the cheese, olive and lamb heaven that is the island of Pag. On Pag, leading boutique hotel and restaurant Boskinac even held a foodie event in honour of Bourdain. 

So many different high-quality gourmet experiences in one tiny part of Croatia. And yet enough to get the Financial Times waxing lyrical. 

Croatia's gourmet tourism potential is huge. With 130 indigenous grape varieties, including the original Zinfandel, several very distinct regional cuisines, and the Mediterranean Diet inscribed as intangible UNESCO heritage on Brac and Hvar, gourmet tourism and income should be somewhere in the region of that in of France, Germany, Italy or Spain. And indeed, the small private agencies, such as Culinary Croatia, which are offering high-quality gourmet tours, are doing great business. 

And yet... 

Despite being proud of the original Zinfandel hailing from Dalmatia, one of the most important wine regions in this part of Europe, there is no wine road for Dalmatia. An example of how seriously the authorities are taking the potential of this great 12-month tourism opportunity. 

I heartily agree with Bourdain and the FT, and sincerely hope that the tourism chiefs wake up to the opportunity. 

Learn more about Croatian food in the dedicated Total Croatia food guide. 

To get a flavour of the diversity and celebration of food in Croatia, check out 25 natural gourmet festivals around the country.

ZAGREB, May 28, 2019 - Croatia has to have an excellent food safety system, promote the highest veterinary and health standards and be part of the European Food Safety Authority, primarily to protect domestic products and it is a fact that food is an important part of the tourism industry, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) vice president, Dragan Kovačević, said at the start of the 13th food safety conference organised by HGK in Opatija.

The two-day conference is dedicated to reorganising the food safety system in Croatia, food fraud, labelling country of origin, fake news, pesticides in food, extended use by date and other topics.

Kovačević said that since its admission to the EU in 2013, Croatia's trade deficit in agricultural and food products has increased from 740 million euro to 1 billion, with Croatia's food imports totalling 3 billion and exports 2 billion euro.

Kovačević warned that in terms of the amount of imported food, meat, dairy, fruit and vegetable products topped the ranking, which indicated a poor agricultural structure, and added that Croatia's productivity is below 50% of the EU average.

On the other hand, it is encouraging that Croatia has now curbed the increase of that trade deficit, he said.

In the first few months of 2019, food exports increased at a greater rate than imports and the biggest export increase has been achieved on the most demanding EU markets.

State Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry, Tugomir Majdak, said that one of the most important activities by the ministry was to secure self-sufficiency of food produced by Croatia's farmers, particularly cattle farmers and that it wants to support the export of domestic quality products to foreign markets.

Croatia has protected 22 of its products with EU quality labels so far, said Majdak and announced the ministry was working on a plan to reduce food waste.

Health and Consumers Directorate General Ghislain Marechal spoke about food fraud in the EU saying that this has several negative effects because it is harmful to consumers' health and that their trust in authorities is thus affected.

In most cases food is incorrectly labelled, it is diluted and often include banned additives, he said. The system isn't especially designed to prevent fraud and so it is necessary to avert perpetrators, he added.

Marechal is of the opinion that imports from countries that are not in the EU, cause additional problems because they have different food safety laws.

Marechal said that food fraud is not taken to be a priority and often police in the field are not sufficiently trained to recognise food fraud.

More news about food in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

With the opening ceremony held at the beautiful Hvar Arsenal, accompanied by delicacies and fine Croatian wines, the 6th International Festival Taste the Mediterranean has begun. This year, in addition to a rich programme designed for professionals as well as fans of gastronomy and oenology, seven foreign and six top Croatian chefs are taking part in the festival. From 22 to 25 May, the festival, taking place in the Mediterranean ambience of the town of Hvar, will promote the benefits of the Mediterranean diet which UNESCO has included in the list of world’s intangible cultural heritage.

The town of Hvar and the Hvar Tourist Board, as well as the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), have recognised the importance of the event attended by many foreign journalists. The festival was opened by Hvar mayor Rikardo Novak, together with Petar Razović from Hvar Tourist Board and Ingrid Badurina Danielsson.

“We are delighted that the festival is developing and has been recognised by numerous exceptional partners from the gastronomy segment, as well as the local community and the Ministry of Tourism and the HTZ. The festival promotes the values of Mediterranean culture, bringing together top-quality chefs, winemakers and local food producers, and experts from the field of agriculture, cultural landscapes, fisheries and sustainable tourism,” said Ingrid Badurina Danielsson, director and founder of the festival.

The Mediterranean specialities and Hvar wines from the Tomić and Vujnović wineries were appropriately tasted at the opening ceremony, and Andro Tomić and Juraj Vujnović personally presented their wines to the guests.

Japanese chef Ippei Uemura hosted a culinary show and presented the art of tuna filleting. Sommelier Daniel Čečavac hosted the Dalmatian wine tasting, and the following wines were included: Tomić Beleca 2018, Vujnović Prč 2018, Stina Vugava 2018, Ahearne Wild Skins 2017, Duboković Prije 6009 Godina 2015, Rizman Primus 2015, and South Side Plavac Mali 2014.

The wine workshop will be hosted by the well-known duo from Split, Siniša Koceić and Alen Gulan from Winebox. Spain will be represented by chef Vicente Patino, whose Saiti restaurant boasts a Michelin recommendation, and he will demonstrate the traditional cuisine of Valencia. He will cook an exclusive dinner at the Hvar Divina together with the restaurant’s chef Nataša Vukmirović, and guests will enjoy delicacies and Spanish wines on the terrace.

Hrvoje Zirojević, the Croatian chef of the year according to Gault&Millau, will host in his kitchen Bee Satongun, the best chef in Asia for 2018 according to the 50 Best Restaurants. With a creative menu and an exclusive dinner at the Laganini restaurant, they will demonstrate common features of the contemporary Thai and Mediterranean diet.

The third dinner will be held on the terrace with the most beautiful view on the historic Hvar, at the Kod Kapetana restaurant, where the Italian chef Marcello Trentini will join his two hosts: Tonči Jerković and Antun Matković Car. For the first time, a chef from Albania will come to the festival. Sokol Prenga is a master confectioner, baker and chocolatier, and a great promoter of Albanian cuisine, and his non-profit organisation “Culinary Education Center” focuses on promoting Albanian history, culture and gastronomy in the world. Slovenia is represented by Igor Jagodic, the Slovenian chef of the year according to Gault&Millau, from the Strelec restaurant in Ljubljana, and the wine academician and sommelier Mira Šemić.

Renowned lecturers will speak at the conference “Sustainable Mediterranean Food Systems, Cultural Landscapes and Biodiversity” held at the Hvar Arsenal. It will undoubtedly be interesting, varied and very, very tasty.

More Hvar news can be found in the Lifestyle section.