May the 30th, 2023 - The Croatian brand Wise Grus has gone from strength to strength, leaving the world of relative obscurity to becoming extremely well known in international circles and for all sorts of different occasions.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian brand Wise Grus is consumed as part of all sorts of celebrations, important anniversaries are celebrated with it, and both kisses and tears are shed with it. Those flavours stay in the memory for a long time, according to brandy and rakija lovers.

While lovers of a drop or two of strong alcohol say that, confirmation of it certainly comes in the form of the same being said by the jury of the world's most prestigious competition for spirits, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, which recently awarded double gold and silver to the Croatian brand Wise Grus' Lozovaca Barique and the much loved Sljivovica. This competition is otherwise considered the most important in the spirits category, it has been being held for 23 years now, and the evaluation criteria are extremely stringent and high.

All of the above would not be unusual if it were not for the fact that this small Daruvar distillery's products won two gold medals in Frankfurt for its Dunjevac and Lozovac shortly after entering the market. It wouldn't be strange either if it hadn't earned recognition for being the best Croatian distillery presented in Frankfurt so soon after emerging. After only eight months of presence on the market, the distillery's shelves already boast a total of six awards, double gold in San Francisco and one silver, an award in Zagreb and two awards in Frankfurt.

Although it is a debut distillery, it has actually entered higher society with great strides. There are many plans for this new Croatian brand, and they're not even aware of the importance of these prestigious awards because the team working there simply does what it loves. Where they will end up in the future remains to be seen, but judging by the "fiery" start they've enjoyed, there are still many challenges and a lot of recognition ahead of them.

They believe that their success will encourage other brandy producers in the Republic of Croatia to make every effort to activate the thriving domestic spirits market and become recognisable both in Europe and indeed in other countries around the world.

For more, check out our business section.

May the 24th, 2023 - Zambelli Brand Design, a leading design agency based in Rijeka, has announced a successful collaboration with the Speeza restaurant, a newly opened Mediterranean street food concept in Kentucky, across the pond in the USA. As part of this collaboration, a visual identity was created that reflects Mediterranean culture, while still appealing to the American market.

In a modern concept adapted to the American market, the new Speeza restaurant offers a unique culinary experience that incorporates traditional Croatian, Greek, and Lebanese dishes. Zambelli Brand Design worked closely with Speeza Restaurant to develop their brand strategy, verbal and visual identity. In addition, they developed a comprehensive brand manual for future brand development and franchises. Taking Mediterranean culture and local preferences into account, the collaboration aimed to realize the founder's vision.

The center of the visual identity is the brand name "Speeza". A slang term from Dalmatia (spiza) meaning delicious food or meals, the name was given a unique stamp by replacing the letter "i" with the double letter "ee", making it more memorable and recognizable. In the typographic logo, a hand symbolizes hospitality, a small fish represents a Mediterranean specialty, and an olive leaf represents freshness and natural ingredients.

Zambelli Brand Design developed a color palette inspired by the vibrant shades of the Mediterranean to reflect the brand's commitment to healthy and delicious food. As the primary color, olive green represents the brand's connection to nature and the Mediterranean lifestyle. Furthermore, Zambelli Brand Design created a number of additional graphic and aesthetic elements to accompany consistent brand communication. These elements are inspired by Mediterranean culture, including traditional tablecloth textures and illustrations of local fruits and vegetables.

Also, Zambelli Brand Design played a significant role in designing brand packaging, bags and takeaway packaging, including cups, boxes and paper bags. Also, the agency helped design a unique and well-designed digital menu for the restaurant, as well as interior details that reflect the brand's Mediterranean identity and create a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere.

Speeza brings the essence of Mediterranean cuisine and culture to Kentucky through Mediterranean street food. Speeza is set to become a favorite destination for food lovers in Kentucky and beyond with its distinctive visual identity, healthy offerings, and welcoming ambience.

Photos: Zambelli Brand Design

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February the 2nd, 2023 - The Croatian Highlander brand has done excellently on the demanding American market, with five events this year alone across the pond in the USA.

As Ana Blaskovic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, many might have knocked on it, but very few have actually managed to successfully open the door to the challenging and fast-paced American market. That's why the fact that the obstacles in the trek ''across the pond'' are being unstoppably demolished by a group of innovative mountaineers from the Slavonian Plain is so astonishing. With the now very well known Croatian Highlander brand, they have created a global business in as many as twenty countries - from nothing but a love of nature and mountaineering.

After breaking the ice last year with their very first event in Big Bear Lake, California, this year they, the Croatian Highlander brand is organising five hiking events from the west to the east coast of the expansive USA.

"Our main goal is to conquer the American market, we're proud that the very first American Highlander was done in San Bernardino County, California, one of the most regulated countries for business in the USA," stated Jurica Barac, the executive director of Avantura zivota (The adventure of your life), the company behind of this wildly successful brand.

The rapid growth of the Croatian Highlander brand is also reflected in their number of employees, which has grown from seven to an impressive thirty in the last year and a half alone. The story of the Croatian Highlander brand began as a local hiking adventure more than six years ago. Fascinated by the rugged and imposing beauty of Velebit, a group of enthusiasts created an adventure that combines the natural beauty of those mountains and the ultimate long-distance hiking experience - Highlander Velebit.

"Five days in the mountains with no phone signal, with nothing but your backpack on your back and 100 kilometres of trail ahead of you. No suits, no stress, everything is up to you - it's a total 'reset' for the head. To put it bluntly, you feel as you once did as a child; dirty, under the stars, free, carefree... For people, it's a dopamine hit in a healthy way," they stated.

The success behind Highlander is a consequence of the wave of turning to a healthier life and escaping out into nature that has been strong as a human desire for the last ten years. Although when it comes to the Croatian national level, the statistics on obesity are devastating (two-thirds of Croatian adults are overweight), the number of people who play sports of some kind has grown tremendously in this country as well. This is reflected in the registrations for Highlander Velebit, which grow year after year, with last year having more than 650 participants.

In a short time, this Croatian mountaineering adventure crossed local and regional borders, and coronavirus pandemic restrictions provided an unexpected spring in their step. In the year 2020, dominated by the novel coronavirus, the rights for the event were sold in a number of countries. With that, the Croatian Highlander brand really came to life, and in addition to Croatia, on 12 mountains in Austria, Greece, Portugal, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia, Spain, Egypt, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, the idea was born.

That was the moment when the company began to think about a further business step forward, searching for a fund or a bank that would finance their expansion. The choice, unexpectedly, fell on a strategic partner, the world's leading event brand Spartan Race, which became a global partner back during the summer of 2021. That investment amounted to more than one million dollars for a 20 percent ownership stake. It marked a turning point for Highlander and a key recipe for their entry to the USA.

"The American market is highly specific, you need a strong partner, otherwise everything takes a long time and the costs overwhelm you. Americans like to be sold things by Americans, be it a product or a service. Everyone advertises their products as the best, that's marketing, so it's extremely important that what you offer has a story behind it, especially if it's sustainable. "Sustainability" is now a hit among consumers there," they explained.

Highlander's target audience is very specific; athletes, recreationists and enthusiasts who love being out in nature and destressing by pushing their own physical limits. Managers and politicians are often found among them, such as Gordan Kolak (Koncar), Damir Djurovic (of the video game fair Reboot Infogamer), and former minister Josip Aladrovic have all passed through gorgeous Velebit several times, and allegedly in enviable physical form.

The franchise for the Italian Highlander was bought by the former leader of the Giro d'Italia. American consumers, noted Barac, are very engaged, they read reviews, ask and check, because compared to Croatia's typical three or four weeks of annual time off, the average American only has eleven days off and they want to make the most of them.

Armed with plans and with the help of Spartan Race, last year they organised the Big Bear Lake Highlander event with more than 250 participants from 31 states turning up, and some even came down to California from Canada as well.

"It's easier to work in the USA, the way a job looks is a big deal there, what kind of numbers you have counts for a lot and making sure the maths holds water is important. At first, everyone is skeptical, especially of someone who comes from Eastern Europe, but when you do what you promised you'd do, the door is swung open for you," Barac said.

"Given the positive feedback we had, we decided to put our feet to the pedal this year and arrange five events. Big Bear Lake remains the flagship event, and in 2023, North Lake Tahoe in California, Ogden in Utah, Kalispell in Montana and Shawangunk in New York are all on the calendar," stated Barac.

They carry out the entire organisation process themselves, and one event takes about six months to set up on average. While the overall impression is that the USA is more open to entrepreneurial ideas like these, that doesn't mean it's easy to wade through the paperwork involved. Environmental protection, for example, is very high on the list of priorities of the local authorities.

"You need to secure a number of permits, for example, a botanist went out into the field where we planned the trail to determine if there could be any threats to the flora there, if there is a risk of fire etc, there are a lot of little details like that to take into account," he said. The costs of the organisation rose to about half a million dollars in total, and most of it was covered by the registration fees for the 500 or so participants at an average of around 650 dollars each. Their sponsors and the local tourist board also gave their share, but at Highlander, they look at that amount as an investment in breaking into a new market.

This year's events, from mid-August to mid-October, are now all planned. The investors, including Barac himself and former minister Ivan Vrdoljak, invested over one million euros in the company, and last year's revenue roughly amounted to that amount as well. This year's finances reflect their expansion with a planned income of three million euros.

The global partnership with Spartan Race, whose events are attended by 1.5 million participants annually, and the cooperation with this Croatian company was evaluated as an opportunity to expand their "tough fitness" portfolio to include mountaineering. It brings them into Croatia as well. In Sveta Nedelja near Samobor, a Spartan Race will be held, races with obstacles (such as crossing a net, fire or mud), and a large Spartan trail event is planned on the rugged hill above Dubrovnik for October 2023.

"We intend to do 70% of our business over in the USA, that's our target market. Not only because they do good work there, but because their feedback is extremely good. We already have 150 applications for this year, our goal is to reach between 1,500 and 2,000 participants", Barac explained in an optimistic tone. In two or three years, he can see the Croatian Highlander brand becoming even more global and being present in 45 countries.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

January the 19th, 2023 - The much loved Croatian company Pipi is set to spread its wings this year, with aims at conquering foreign markets and having them love the recognisable brand as much as the domestic market does.

As Mladen Miletic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian company Pipi, known for its funny marketing campaigns for its famous drinks, has entered 2023 with reinforcements in the team, Marketing, sales and project manager Zoran Kosanovic was hired as an advisor to the company's Management Board, and will be in charge of co-creating strategic and development decisions of the iconic Pipi brand.

With this appointment, Kosanovic has officially joined the Pipi team, whose main focus for this year is to expand its share here on the domestic market even more, and to enter and conquer new foreign markets.

"By bringing in Zoran Kosanovic, we made an additional step forward in terms of our company's overall development. We've been joined by an investor from our niche who will help us to further capitalise on the potential of our brand. We did a great job with the rebranding of the Croatian company Pipi, we recently sent our first container of our products off to the USA, we made numerous contacts with other markets, and the goal now is to achieve growth abroad," said Pipi CEO Luka Diel-Zadro.

Zoran Kosanovic has otherwise worked in the FMCG industry for the past twenty years, holding the position of Marketing Director of Red Bull Croatia, and therefore bringing a wealth of priceless experience to the domestic brand.

He also worked in managerial positions at the Procter&Gamble company, he is one of the global pioneers of Shopper Marketing.

"Pipi represents a challenge for me, primarily because of the potential of the brand. It has been going on for more than fifty years now, it's always been innovative, different, and because of all of that, the challenge is greater. A special strength is the community which is all for the classic #bolimepipi philosophy, and the launch of the Pipi boutique was a small revolution within the niche of beverages," stated Kosanovic of his new appointment within the Croatian company Pipi.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

October the 5th, 2022 - The Croatian brand Miret has earned prestigious recognition on the global stage which will further shine the spotlight on this ecologically-aware producer.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Josipa Ban writes, the well-known Croatian brand Miret which designs and creates ecological trainers has received the OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certificate for their complete product. Miret's shoes have as such become the only tennis shoes in the entire world that have a certificate confirming that they don't contain any harmful chemicals, meaning that nothing in the product poses a risk to human health.

It's important to note that other brands do carry this mark, but only for certain parts of trainers, where as the Croatian brand Miret's certification is for the entire shoe. The standard 100 marks represent the "eyes of the consumer", explained Domagoj Boljar, the co-founder and director of Miret.

"Given that footwear production often takes place far from the eyes of the consumers themselves, with this certificate, they get an accurate insight into what is happening in places that are invisible to them," Boljar pointed out.

Proof of quality

In order to be awarded with this certificate, they had to undergo rigorous testing of every single component and material incorporated into their product, and the whole process, which the certifier went through for the first time, lasted about a year, they explained from the company, which was founded a mere four years ago by the brothers Domagoj and Hrvoje Boljar.

Domagoj Boljar emphasised that it is a process that is much more complex than the certification of other items of clothing, because footwear is made from a dozen different materials and components, unlike clothing which typically only actually has two or three materials in it. Obtaining this certificate is extremely important for the Croatian brand Miret because this is just one in a series of confirmations of the foundations of their praiseworthy project.

"We're quite radical when it comes to our product and we like to take care not only of the ecological footprint but also of people's health. Now we've received an independent certificate that confirms the quality of the product and the positive impact on human health,'' emphasised Boljar, announcing that they plan to continue to prove their high ecological standards.

With that said, they should soon present the results of their research on the biological composition of tennis shoes and the CO2 footprint. Ultimately, they are convinced, all of this will have a positive impact on their business because they're now scientifically proving their story about ecological trainers. This, in turn, contributes not only to recognition, but also to the credibility of this Croatian brand, and as far as recognition is concerned, Miret seems to earn it rather quickly. This is confirmed by their revenue, which in just two years, from 2019 to 2021, grew by 179 percent to 1.1 million kuna.

However, according to Domagoj Boljar, further growth is still to come because so far they have been mostly focused on product development, the establishment of their infrastructure and growing the right team.

"Now that we've properly organised the business, we will focus on growth, certification and expansion of our offer,'' the men behind the Croatian band Miret explained.

Much like other Croatian entrepreneurs, the business path of the Boljar brothers was far from easy because they worked hard for six years on the development of their ecological trainers with partners from nine other European countries. Therefore, it wasn't easy to replace traditional materials such as leather and plastic with more sustainable and environmentally friendly materials, all while maintaining the quality, durability and modern and attractive design of the shoes.

This quality is mostly recognised by foreign markets, because 90 percent of Miret's shoes are exported to other European countries, such as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and then to the Scandinavian countries, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark.

For more, make sure to check out Made in Croatia.