As Novac/Ilija Matanovic writes on the 24th of November, 2019, lately it has become somewhat difficult for a week to pass without a story popping up somewhere about the truly amazing Mate Rimac and his company: the latest, published in the British automotive magazine Autocar, says that Mate Rimac is set to open an R&D (research and development) centre in the UK.

This information was confirmed today by Rimac Automobili for Jutarnji list, with emphasis being place on the fact that the whole story is still in its very early planning stages, which means that no specific details are yet known, including the size of the office itself or the number of employees. According to the author of the text at Autocar, Mate Rimac told him that he "loves working with the British" and that he considers the "United Kingdom home to the best and most pragmatic European engineers".

''We're looking for engineers for positions that are very difficult to fill, and the United Kingdom is a country with such staff,'' read a statement from Mate Rimac's company.

Autocar spoke with Rimac about the deal between Rimac Automobili and the London-based HR Owen, a group that represents some of the world's most luxury car brands in the UK and is the world's largest dealer of Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti.

After Rimac unveils a production version of its C_Two model at the Geneva Motor Show in March, it looks like HR Owen will be the place to sell the car and provide after-sales support to customers when production begins at the end of 2020. It will become available to British customers in 2021 for around £2m, orders are being received now and deliveries will be dealt with exclusively by the HR Owen Experience Center in Hatfield, England.

Mate Rimac told Autocar that the production model would not be called C_Two, but would be given a new name.

''I can't reveal it to you yet. We haven't decided yet,'' Rimac told the English car magazine. He added that between 40 and 50 copies of that hypercar will be produced, plus an equal number of Pininfarina Battista, a car that uses Rimac's carbon chassis and mechanics. Mate Rimac explained that he would carefully limit the production of his cars because "if we stay below 100 copies a year, the big players won't care about that."

In addition, at the recently-opened Los Angeles auto show, Hyundai sports chief N Albert Biermann confirmed that they were already far behind in the development and testing of high-performance electric prototypes, in collaboration with Rimac (it's worth recalling that Hyundai has entered into the ownership structure of the Croatian company with an investment of 80 million euros). Biermann said Hyundai's plan is to come out with as many as 44 eco-friendly vehicles by 2025.

In addition, it should not be forgotten that through the Porsche investment in Rimac's company, the entire Volkswagen Group is in some way affiliated with this utterly remarkable Croatian company.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages for much more.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes on the 21st of November, 2019, Croatian IT company Beta Software has developed a communications platform for corporate users. They recently introduced their application, Bizar, to the public after five years of developing and refining it.

Skyhighgrowth and BizDev Genius from Serbia and Zeromolecula and Aynclabs from Zagreb have joined the project in recent months, and the app is available today on all platforms, including Android, iOs and desktop. Company CEO Marko Čumbrek revealed how the application works and what makes it stand out in the proverbial "sea" of many similar ones.

Beta Software's Bizar application contains private and group conversations so that employees do not have to "exit" the application, as is usually otherwise the case, but have multiple types and levels of privacy for all projects.

The application boasts a Hidden option for ''hidden status'' messages, Private for private ones and Open and Public ones related to public projects. Within these messages, each project can be broken down into separate segments and access can be given to each individual or group that needs access to that part of the project or information.

"We can assign tasks to projects which need to be executed that are timed so that the application reminds you when and what task to complete, who should do it and for what project. It sounds complicated, but this is common in fast-moving companies that want to have everything under control,'' explains the CEO of Beta Software.

They are aware of the demanding path of market penetration, as companies such as Google, Microsoft, Slack and Monday are their strong competition, but they have still managed to come to grips with the competitive and demanding market.

Čumbrek points out that applications like Beta Software's Bizar are sought after on global markets where fast communication is absolutely imperative.

"In companies, saving time and the speed of solving tasks and projects is crucial today, especially if those companies have to separate themselves from the competition and win," Čumbrek adds. Among other things, they also offer rebranding applications, so any business can have a personalised Bizar application with their own name and logo on it. In translation; for larger clients, they also make the desired changes that competing companies, for example, don't offer.

"We're flexible because large clients and the market are asking for us to be like that. When you're like our competition, where each of them [those companies] is worth a couple of billion dollars, they have a lot of owners and some are on the stock market, you can't easily adjust and you're slower in acting and even in making decisions.

Of course, we had offers for some companies to initially be part of the Bizar project, but we didn't want to seek approval for every move precisely because you're typically very slow at the time. 

Today, Beta Software has more than 40 external associates and four full-time employees based in Dubrovnik, where it was launched in 2007.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia page for much more.

As Bernard Ivezic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of November, 2019, Ivan Mrvoš, the owner of Include and one of the most famous startup entrepreneurs in Croatia has a brand new product, the X24 Power Pack battery, which he presented at the Smart City Fair in Barcelona. The product excelled his already wildly successful business even more and opened up more opportunities for development, and this has been fully recognised by major global players and powerful names.

The Croatian startup Include has now created its biggest innovation to date since launching the amazing smart bench. As stated, Include's brand new new product is codenamed X24 Power Pack.

The X24 Power Pack could be described with many diminutives. For example, Ivan Mrvoš, who introduced this new product at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, ​​states that it is a standard battery within the capacities of what his company creates.

However, in spite of what this obviously still humble entrepreneur claims, very little is standard about this battery. In fact, Monna Country is the most advanced version of Include's range of smart benches yet, which generate electricity themselves, store it and then charge e-bikes, mobile phones, support a range of sensors and are connected to the cloud via a 4G/LTE network.

Include's Monna Country smart benches are completely independent of the power grid, thanks to the quality of their built-in battery packs, which are now being packaged as an entirely separate product. The X24 Power Pack, moreover, could also be described as the kind of product that the incredible Tesla, the startup belonging to genius Elon Musk, began developing back in 2012 and finally launched in 2015. In actuality, that comparison wouldn't be right either, because four years ago both technology and the market were far too immature for such an offer.

Tesla has therefore focused on industrial applications by developing its Powerpack business, installing 100 kWh and 200 kWh storage batteries for communities and organisations that rely on renewable energy.

On the other hand, the version of household batteries, Powerwall, are finding it much harder to penetrate the market. The first version had a capacity of 6.5 kWh and needed to be stronger. Meanwhile, Tesla has introduced a new generation, the 13.5 kWh Powerwall 2 battery, which meets the energy backup needs of households.

The problem primarily lies in being able to meet demand, beginning in California where power outages and reductions have become commonplace, etc. 2020 is fast approaching, and the start of the massive sale of Powerwall in Japan is widely expected. Tesla boasts that it has delivered Powerwalls to 50,000 locations in seven countries so far, but Japan will actually be the start of mass commercialisation of this type of technology.

Bringing our attention back to Croatia's Include, we could also describe the X24 Power Pack as a product with at least a dozen competitors in the world. Another massive name that would boost Include to unforeseen heights is Mercedes. The German auto giant is already offering its home and battery in the market.

Mercedes is not alone in that, either. Both BMW and Nissan have also entered this business, as has Panasonic, as well as a number of other companies, some better known and some less well known, who are looking for their space on the smart grid infrastructure market. This is a new market that will fundamentally transform companies like HEP in Croatia, because the liberalisation of the sale of electricity seen in Croatia is only a lukewarm guide to the changes that follow this industry closely.

On this particular new market, where there is currently a growing demand for industrial and home batteries, Ivan Mrvoš has initially left plenty of room for proper positioning. In Barcelona, ​​Include introduced the 1.5 kWh X24 Power Pack model, which comes with the IP67 standard, which means it can last half an hour underwater. This could potentially be used for vessels.

For the first time, Include has an extremely scalable product whose use is wide and the demand for which is only going to grow. Given the fact that this more than promising Croatian startup raised the capital to expand its offer, the first fruits of this endeavour seem very promising indeed.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages for much more.

As Novac writes on the 20th of November, 2019, thousands of helmets from the Šestan-Busch company from Međimurje, as well as weapons from the Ozalj-based company HS Product, are equipment purchased by the US Federal Agency from the companies of the Croatian defense industry, while Hrvatski Galeb (Croatian Seagull) produces NATO clothing.

According to the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), Croatian companies operating in this particular sector are known as trusted and reliable partners who make and offer quality products. They are currently exhibiting at the 21st International Fair of Homeland Security, Military Police Equipment and Arms (Milipol) in the French capital of Paris.

Organised by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, the Alan Agency, Kap-ko and Šešir, Galeb, Odjeća i Pozamanterija are all on display.

The Prelog-based Šestan-Busch company is present in more than seventy countries today, producing around a thousand pieces of safety helmets daily, and they arrived at the Paris Fair with a top recommendation.

''The German company Busch opened a company with an American partner in California just a few months ago. Specifically, if one wants to become a supplier to the military and police there, they must have a US registered company. This move has allowed us to become a supplier to the FBI, to which we've already delivered several thousand helmets,'' stated Alojzije Šestan, the company's director.

However, Croatian textile companies also play an extremely important role in the Croatian defense industry, too, as technical textiles, as was explained by the Croatian Chamber of Economy, represent a key niche market for the European Union.

''Focusing on "smart clothing" is a major driver of the EU textile industry,'' said Galeb's Stjepan Pezo, who produces a massive two million pieces of clothing each year. Their range includes functional knitwear products, underwear, which doesn't cause discomfort when a person sweats because, as was learned, the clothing sees to it that any moisture is quickly drained away from the body.

"The work being done for NATO is our best reference for potential new partners when participating in trade shows," Pezo added when discussing the business under which Galeb produced as many as 200,000 sets of NATO long underwear.

At the Paris Fair, the Croatian company Odjeća is also present, which produces official and protective clothing such as high-quality military and police uniforms and work and protective clothing for firefighters, according to the Croatian Chamber of Commerce.

''We currently export ten percent of our total turnover to Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Because as an industry we can't compete with the Far East in terms of the cost of labour, we place emphasis on quality and our further business plan is to continue working on specific, high quality smaller product series and export growth,'' said Jasminka Korotaj, Odjeća's director.

Croatian defense industry companies are regular suppliers of arms and military equipment for the needs of the Croatian Army here at home too, and this year, the last contract concluded was worth a huge 314 million kuna. In addition, this year's contracts with the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) for police equipment and other items is worth 135 million kuna.

Based on financial indicators, Croatian companies who operate in this sector made a surplus of just under 900 million kuna last year in trade in military goods and non-military weapons.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia page for much more on Croatian products.

Croatian companies face many obstacles when doing business, and the state tends to be the one throwing barriers up left right and centre, often forcing companies to relocate to other EU countries in which the situation for entrepreneurs and doing business is much more favourable.

While running a business in Croatia is far from easy, there are exceptions to the general rule (or at least the general rule which continues to be the most commonly held belief among Croats), that nobody can succeed here unless they're well connected or members of a certain political party. Infobip, a truly impressive Croatian software company which draws its roots not from Zagreb but from Vodnjan in Istria, is just one fine example of what can be done in Croatia, and done well, with patience, dogged determination and a clear view.

As Bernard Ivezic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 17th of November, 2019, in the very centre of Dalmatia, the remarkable Croatian company Infoip has initially employed eighteen experts.

The ever-impressive Infobip, otherwise the largest Croatian software company, has now opened an office in Split, the new Split premises mark the company's fourth office to open in the Republic of Croatia, making it the 66th in the world. Infobip's offices are located across Croatia, and in addition to the newly opened Split office, their offices can be found in Vodnjan, Zagreb and Rijeka. The company has, as stated, initially employed eighteen IT professionals in Split and the new office has become part of Infobip's development hubs. The company otherwise employs more than 2,000 workers in total.

Izabel Jelenić, co-founder and CTO of Infobip, says they want to give talented people in Split the opportunity to work on global innovation.

''After Vodnjan, Rijeka, Zagreb, Sarajevo, Tuzla, Pune (India) and St. Petersburg (Russia), the office in Split has joined the network of hubs in which we develop communication solutions,'' concluded Jelenić.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more.

November 16, 2019 - Croatian rent-a-car company Carwiz has opened its first rental office in the United States.

HRTurizam writes that Croatian car rental company Carwiz has positioned itself as a leader in this segment in a short time - and in just a year, made a major leap forward, unthinkable to many at the time, and attacked and expanded into the global market through a franchise model.

Thus, Carwiz became a Croatian export product and part of the tourism sector. In less than a year, through its franchise model, Carwiz is already present in 15 international markets, and it is with this new franchise partnership that they continue its global expansion in the most demanding market yet - the United States.

Having a presence in the US market is a dream for all companies, especially from a small market like Croatia. The US market is extremely competitive and demanding, and few in Croatia have succeeded in doing so, not counting IT companies. However, this feat was accomplished by Carwiz.

Carwiz has thus opened its first car rental office in the United States.

By signing a contract with the company from the world's largest car rental market operating in Orlando International Airport, Southeastern Florida, Carwiz International has opened its first US car rental office.

"We started the negotiations in February this year and finalized them during the WTM fair in London. American versus other markets is the most challenging because of market rules that are very different from European, African, and Asian. We think the branch office at Orlando International Airport, which is also the largest rental car market in the world, is a good way to introduce ourselves to US customers,” explained Frane Herceg, Franchise Manager of Carwiz rent a car.

Thus, after the European, African, and Asian markets, Carwiz also enters the US market and continues its global expansion.

Carwiz dreams of becoming one of the strongest players in the rental car industry; however, expectations for expansion on the global map for this year are not yet met. According to Carwiz, at the recently concluded WTM fair in London, interest in the Cariwz franchise exists from as many as twenty new countries.

"They expressed interest comes from European, American, and exotic and distant countries to us thanks to the service we offer our partners - from daily contact regardless of the time difference and mentoring. The company is projected to grow by the end of the year in twenty countries. We have achieved a lot of partnerships thanks to our visual identity, which also proved to be very attractive at the fair and the success we have achieved in just two years of business, during which we have established ourselves as one of the strongest players in the rent-a-car industry,” Carwiz's director, Kresimir Dobrilovic, emphasizes, adding that quality management of the franchises and the support they provide to partners have proven to be the main precondition for the company's growth.

Interest from Qatar, India, Mauritius, the Dominican Republic, Florida, and Azerbaijan indicate that a global brand can enhance local business, give it importance and improve sales, adds Dobrilovic, and concludes that their global brand presence suggests that price is not the only and the most critical factor in the market.

This Croatian company is slowly and surely one of the strongest players in the international rental car industry.

To read more about business in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Infobip, a truly impressive company from Vodnjan, Istria, is continuing to go from strength to strength alongside the likes of Rimac Automobili - could it find itself on the New York Stock Exchange and go down in Croatian economic history?

As Poslovni Dnevnik/VL/Zoran Vitas writes on the 14th of November, 2019, the Croatian publications Poslovni Dnevnik and Vecernji List are awarding the most prestigious business awards in the country this year yet again.

The title of Economist and Economic Event of the Year will be awarded to the most successful and strongest business person and business event in Croatia, whose business or influence crucially affected the economic trends in the country, and also improved the established economic and social climate.

Although it isn't being talked about too much yet, the news that Vodnjan's incredible company Infobip could be listed on the New York Stock Exchange was one of the biggest pieces of economic news so far this year, and it's certainly news that has attracted the most attention, alongside Hyundai's massive investment in Rimac Automobili.

While it remains a pleasant piece of news, it is in actuality quite logical for Infobip to make an initial public offering that would finally push it towards gaining the title of Croatia's first ''unicorn'', a newer company worth more than 1 billion US dollars. It's been a while since all of that was first discussed, and that once very distant possibility has now steadily begun to take on a somewhat more palpable contour.

"We'll make an IPO decision in two years. This needs to be prepared for, it was only four months ago that we first employed a finance chief with a background in investment banking and corporate finance. For example, we've monitored transfer prices so far, and logistically we can pass the audit done by Ernst & Young for us, as we have 65 offices in countries around the world. However, starting this year only, we've started to use finance as a lever for the development of the company,'' Silvio Kutić, co-founder and CEO of Infobip, said in a recent interview with Poslovni Dnevnik.

For the first time since Infobip has existed, it has a Chief Financial Officer. The man in question is Mario Baburić, who has engineering experience in addition to vast experience in the world of finance. In the first interview he gave when he took up the position, back at the beginning of September, he revealed to Vecernji List that his main task was to provide a solid foundation for Infobip's IPO.

''IPOs may be the next phase, but before that, companies usually find a serious private investor who can acquire a minority stake by recapitalisation, and these funds will help us in the next two to three years to grow further.

We need some 12 to 24 months to prepare for IPOs. By carefully selecting investors with a good reputation, we will get an extra spring in our step in terms of our future plans for a stronger presence in the US and other markets. After that, we'd be ready for a campaign in about two years, that is, we could sort out a story like an IPO. The need for our services is growing, so we're also thinking about private capital to help us grow, and we are looking for a solution to that in the next few months. Internally, the finance department is now being strengthened in order to be ready for this possible IPO,'' Baburić said at the time.

Another high-profile person from the business world is engaged in preparing such ''gigs'' across the Atlantic in New York. This is Boris Nemšić, the former head of Vip, later Mobilkom, and then CEO of the consulting company Delta Partners in Dubai. He is now head of the Infobip Advisory Board.

"I'm going to focus on the bigger picture, but also on managing the company so that, if we choose to do so, we're ready for potential foreign investors," Nemšić told Bloomberg, one of the world's most influential business portals, which closely follows the activities around this remarkable company from Vodnjan, Istria.

''The fact that everything surrounding this is being taken very seriously has been confirmed by the involvement of a commercial bank in America. It is of interest to many of the world's most renowned investors in the industry. Of course, when choosing a future investor, we need to look at what's best for us, not only the price of money and valuation, which is of course important, but how to get an adequate partner who will further help us with their advice and experience,'' they say from Infobip.

''If such a partner may already have had a similar company in his portfolio and helped it to enter the New York Stock Exchange, then there are people who can help us further with that experience. Our owners know very well how the business and the company are developing, which is why we're only talking about a minority stake because we already have quality leadership. The investment bank we've engaged in this process is Citi,'' Mario Baburić told Vecernji List in early September this year.

It is quite obvious that when it comes to the Infobip IPO, it will be a unique but also a turning point for the Croatian economy as a whole. At that point, should it come, Croatia will have a confirmed global player with solid roots in the largest market - the US market - in the most competitive sector of them all.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia for much more.

The past few weeks have showcased just how important Hyundai's investment in Rimac Automobili actually is, and not just in an economic sense. Can the Croatian Government manage to match his advanced level of thinking?

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Vecernji list writes on the 12th of November, 2019, Germany's Angela Merkel has set out to set up a million electric car refuelling stations across Germany by 2030, by 2022 there should be 50,000 of them, which will cost three and a half billion euros in total. This is already a serious increase given that there are now 21,000 such locations across Germany.

In addition, new subsidies from the German Government for electric cars were introduced, all after the German chancellor attended the presentation of Volkswagen's ID.3, a fully electric car with aspirations to replace even the likes of the Golf one day. The idea clearly left an impression on the most powerful woman in Europe, and she made sure the measures to get things moving were in place.

Mate Rimac, known for being far more forward thinking than the Croatian Government, was absolutely right in investing heavily in electric vehicles, and especially on a regular basis, pointing out that his company was primarily concerned with technology, and only then does concern for cars follow.

''The car industry is changing like never before. Now it has much more potential and it's a great opportunity for Croatia. We don't exist today because we know how to make lights or doors well, that's been being done for a hundred years now, but because we started something that was new even to them at the time,'' Rimac told Prime Minister Andrej Plenković during his visit to his company in Sveta Nedelja this summer. The visit was, quite shockingly, the very first Plenković had ever made to the factory.

"I remember very well the enthusiasm in Croatia last year caused by the success at the World Cup. The automotive industry needs to get just that kind of attention. We firmly believe in Mate Rimac, his ideas and his technology. We can provide our knowledge and experience in this regard, but it just isn't going to be enough without the Croatian Government's support. Much more is needed, especially when it comes to education, such as forming projects that will allow the educated to stay here,'' said Lutz Meschke, Porsche's high-ranking manager.

The meeting with Plenković came after big news which regarded the investment of an enormous 80 million euros, or 600 million kuna, from Hyundai into Rimac Automobili.

"Rimac Automobili is an innovative company with outstanding performance in high-performance electric vehicles," said Euisun Chung, executive vice president of the Hyundai Motor Group.

''Their startup roots and extensive experience in working with car makers combined with technological strength make Rimac Automobili an ideal partner for us. We're looking forward to working with Rimac on our path to clean mobility,'' Chung said.

The information provided alongside the investment stated that Hyundai Motors wants to accelerate its transition to clean mobility and position itself as a global leader in driving this change in the industry. One of the key measures to achieve this is electrification, and precisely along those lines - they plan to market 44 electrified car models by 2025.

Having partnered with a number of major global car companies, this was the final confirmation of the good direction Rimac Automobili is heading in. This process involves not only a Croatian company, however, but Croatia as a country, and many steps need to be taken.

''At the June meeting, we presented very specific measures that Croatia needs to take to make it attractive for such investments. The meeting was attended by the leading people of Porsche (a member of the VW Group) and Hyundai. I'm pleased that how much such an investment would mean for Croatia has been recognised, and I hope that the government will use the analyis and suggestions we've made and the contacts we've established to attract such investments. If there is any way we can help in this process, we're of course available. We have attracted more than 150 million euros in foreign investment and we're working with all the major players in this area,'' Rimac told Vecernji list.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages for much more.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes on the 12th of November, 2019, ''underground mushrooms aren't going to put food on the table or raise children,'' is a sentence that spouses Radmila and Goran Karlić heard often when they decided to leave their jobs and devote themselves to truffle farming in Paladini near Buzet on the Istrian peninsula, a northern area of Croatia.

Way back in 1994, they initially founded Karlić truffles - The company through which they are now engaged in the purchase and the sale of truffles with their children, and the processing and sales of their products in shops, restaurants and even on foreign markets, as Ivana Karlić, the youngest member of the family, says.

''They said that we were crazy!''

This year, the Karlić family marketed gin with white truffles, the very first in the entire world. Ivan Karlić, Ivana's brother, came up with the idea, who is described as a creator and a big fan of truffles, so he dedicated that to combining them with every dish. The idea originated from a big love of gin and truffles, and was created in collaboration with the Aura distillery, who also work with other traditional types of beverages.

"People like gin, it's becoming more popular so the conclusion was - why not? We worked on it for several months, we made 222 limited bottles, the price of one is about 100 euros. Three months ago, they were put on the market, there are maybe 20 bottles left. People have recognised the value of product and we get a lot of praise and orders from all over the world,'' explains the young truffle enthusiast.

Since that gin turned out to be a great idea, they have already started collecting the finest truffle specimens, which must be perfectly round for gin, in order to produce a limited edition gin next year. The first in the world also offered a unique truffle hunt in which guests can participate, and Radmila Karlić came up with that idea which adds a whole other, more personal element to the entire thing.

''I'm delighted that we have such an innovative offer for our guests, and they're delighted. We have guests from New York who have returned five times for the tour, and their 15-year-old child dreams of working with truffles one day,'' says Ivana.

If guests decide to take part in the adventure, they can also stay at Villa Olive, surrounded by olive trees, for which the Karlić family won the Tourist Flower Award this year in the category of best accommodation for an active holiday.

Through play, Ivana and Ivan slowly learned the business and became much better acquainted with the black and white underground mushrooms.

"The price of truffles wasn't high back then, so we needed to find as many as possible to earn something. Asparagus and other mushrooms were harvested, but our efforts were directed by the truffles,'' Ivana tells us.

Twelve years ago, they planted the first truffle plantation in Croatia with 2,700 oak trees and some hazelnuts, and every day they watered the trees - the cost of which was high because they were made in a laboratory - irrigated and pruned. It was a big and risky experiment.

"After six years of waiting, my brother went for a walk with the dogs and found the first truffle, smaller than a tennis ball. When he brought it home, we were overjoyed because at the time everyone was telling us we were crazy. It was the first truffle found on a plantation in Croatia,'' Ivana explained.

They even get orders all the way from Singapore.

Black truffles grow all year round in the hills, there are more of them and their price is lower. Winter white truffles grow in the lowlands from September to late December or early January, and its price is very high because it is a delicacy that grows in two areas in the world - in Croatia and Italy.

The Karlić family annually remove a large amount from the plantation in Buzet, right next to the forest, which is the original site, they then sell and market them in restaurants across Croatia.

Exports have been particularly successful, selling truffles through distributors across Europe, in countries like Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom, but the orders come from much further away from our continent too, including from Singapore.

Truffella, the world's first truffle chocolate spread in the world which has been being marketed since back in 2016, stands out in with its colourful product offering.

''Mixing mushrooms and chocolate is a demanding and risky business, but it's still our best-selling product. As for this season, it's not been brilliant, but it's not been bad either, there will always be truffles. The Istrian forests are suitable for agriculture, the locals take care of them, they're not polluted and no concreting is allowed; we stick together as a community. That's why we're glad when someone plants a plantation and succeeds,'' concludes Ivana Karlić.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more.

Croatia Airlines is still far from out of the woods when it comes to doing business. Publishing losses and continuing to go downhill, what are the potential rescue options for Croatia's national carrier?

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Josip Bohutinski/VL writes on the 12th of November, 2019, PBZ and DBV consultants engaged in finding a strategic partner and recapitalisation model for Croatia Airlines (CA) should propose a solution by the end of the year. Vecernji list has since discovered that three models are on the table currently.

One of the models, as has since been learned, is to create a holding company for Croatian airports and thus Croatia Airlines. The second solution is for pension funds to take over Croatia Airlines and the airports, and thirdly, for those same pension funds to take over ACI along with the ailing Croatian airline.

All the state-owned airports - Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, Rijeka, Pula and Osijek - would be included in the holding, except for Zagreb Airport, which is under a concession. These six airports are also included in the model with pension fund options. The state has a 55 percent share in them, while the rest is held by counties and LGUs.

Croatia Airlines is continuing to publish concerning losses, down from 82.9 million kuna last year while all Croatian airports except for Osijek operated at a profit. The total profit of these five airports for 2018 amounts 213.1 million kuna, and the losses published by Osijek Airport amounted to 266.900 kuna.

Poslovni's interlocutors say that companies that would otherwise “feed” each other would merge with the idea of creating a holding because Croatia Airlines makes up a good deal of traffic for those airports.

However, the merger of the airports and Croatia Airlines, as they say, would also be a political issue because in some cities they oppose the idea entirely. Airport profits are also a draw for pension funds.

Pension funds could also be offered another lure - ACI, for the same reason. The Republic of Croatia owns just over 78 percent of its share capital, and generated 30.9 million kuna in profits last year. Although the focus of the consultants' engagement was on other airlines that would take over Croatia Airlines, they said that there was no particular interest in doing so.

Pension funds are interested in investing in airports and ACIs and aren't even attempting to hide that fact. They say their idea of ​​taking over Croatia Airlines and recapitalising the company if it's ''bundled'' into a package with ACI and several airports seems attractive.

The best model for them would be to take over the entire package, but they note that the Croatian national carrier is a ''bottomless pit'', whose survival is impossible without a deep restructuring of the company.

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