May the 5th, 2022 - Three large Croatian egg farms have collapsed and their management has stated that they plan to remain open and in function only until the end of this week.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Croatian poultry and egg producers are currently navigating troubled waters. Just as they announced before Easter, some are closing down their farms because their production costs have become too high to be able to cope with.

RTL discovered that three large Croatian egg farms are set to shut their doors, and the producers have also been complaining that the traders must be deaf and are offering them purchase prices which are much too low, even though the eggs on the shelves have never been more expensive.

This concerning information was also confirmed by the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture. The president of the chamber, Mladen Jakopovic, said: “two or thee are closing, we found out about that informally. Two or three Croatian egg farms will shut. According to our information, that would amount to about five percent of Croatian egg production at this time.''

There is almost no egg producer who isn't facing trouble at this moment in time, and they are thinking about reducing production entirely because the current situation is becoming unbearable.

Magi Lukac, the head of one egg production company, pointed out that the costs are growing every day. “We just managed to raise the prices a bit, and now we've had a new blow with new costs that don't follow the selling prices. We have information that many poultry farmers are going to reduce their capacities,'' he said.

The Republic of Croatia is almost self-sufficient when it comes to egg production, but after the coronavirus pandemic, inflation and the situation with the war in Ukraine, the prices of cereals and energy have skyrocketed, and they complain that traders are not giving them a higher purchase price despite that.

"The price of wheat and corn have grown by 200 percent, soybeans and sunflower meal have gone up by 100 percent, and eggs aren't following that growth. I'm afraid that we will be needing to feed tourists with foreign eggs this year,'' Lukac pointed out for RTL.

The competent ministry says they are preparing additional incentives in order to try to soften the blow being dealt to Croatian egg farms, as well as to businesses directly related to the industry.

Zdravko Barac, the director of the Directorate for Animal Husbandry and Food Quality of the Ministry of Agriculture, said: “Of course we won't allow a shortage of eggs to occur, nor will we allow that for other livestock products. We reacted with a whole series of measures in a difficult period two years ago.''

Five million kuna is intended for poultry farmers, and 2 million kuna for egg producers, and on top of that, some more good news is coming from Brussels.

Mladen Jakopovic, President of the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture, pointed out: “It has been agreed that the import of wheat and other cereals into the European Union would be exempt from anyone needing to pay customs duties and associated customs costs. That is 20 million tonnes, which is 20 times more than Croatia's total annual production.''

This temporary measure should take effect in two weeks, but whether or not it will be enough to prevent the locking of the doors of more Croatian egg farms is yet to be seen.

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ZAGREB, 31 January, 2021 - Croatia has many advantages from EU membership, as confirmed by the adoption of the EU budget which guarantees €24.5 billion in the next seven years, but for Croatian farmers it also means that older member states' market surpluses end on the Croatian market at dumping prices, MP Marijana Petir has said.

She was speaking in a debate on the future of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Croatia's adjustment to reforms, organised in Zagreb last Tuesday by the European Parliament's Croatian office in cooperation with the Croatian parliament's Agriculture Committee, which Petir chairs.

She said that after the adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework, an important part of the €24.5 billion envisaged for Croatia from 2021 to 2027 was the €5 billion envisaged for the CAP.

"But there's the other side of the coin and one should say that Croatian farmers have been faced with many challenges since Croatia joined the EU."

According to Petir, it is difficult for them to keep up with farmers in other member states due to internal reasons and the conditions on the single European market.

We realise that we have to resolve the problem of farmland management on our own, but we believe that the same rules should equally apply to all those participating in the single market, she said.

"It's neither sustainable nor just that older member states' market surpluses end on new member states' markets at dumping prices because that destroys our producers and they are faced with insurmountable differences."

Also, Petir said, the EU should pay attention to relations with third countries, reviewing trade agreements to make sure that imports meet all EU standards.

ZAGREB, September 21, 2020 - The EU's Farm to Fork Strategy is an opportunity for Croatian farmers but a common fight is necessary to protect the domestic market, invest in technology and motivate youth to continue farming and stay in rural areas, MEP Biljana Borzan and the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPK) said on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference, Borzan said it was necessary to transition to sustainable production in order to preserve soil, water and air.

She recalled that the EU planned, by 2030, to halve the use of pesticides and antibiotics in agriculture and to increase by 25% the land with ecological production.

In order to encourage the transition to sustainable production and consumption, the Farm to Fork Strategy envisages amending about 20 European laws and regulations and reviewing market standards for farm products.

Borzan said she would fight for the promotion of locally grown products, adding that Croatian farmers should be protected from products which did not meet European standards.

HPK president Mladen Jakopovic said Croatia met many ecological standards required in EU agriculture, adding that its advantages were a clean environment, the fact that it was GMO-free and had a diversified economy.

He warned, however, that excessive cheap imports, weak consumption and putting agriculture in a negative context had resulted in a production decline in all sectors.

Jakopovic said that in the past five years Croatia's agriculture production dropped 26%. Its value dropped from HRK 21 billion in 2012, before EU accession in mid-2013, to HRK 17 billion in 2019, he said, highlighing the negative foreign trade balance in cattle breeding.

He said that in order to contribute to the realisation of the Farm to Fork Strategy, farmers should have adequate financial support for the transition.

Trade agreements should not allow the import of goods which do not meet the EU's green standards, Jakopovic said, adding that every state should be at least 70% self-sufficient in the event of a crisis.

He said the HPK would compile a database of agricultural producer prices across the EU which would help to better enforce laws on unfair trade practices and show which EU country undermined the market with dumping prices.

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As Novac/Jozo Vrdoljak writes on the 18th of September, 2020, the market disruption in Germany caused by the outbreak of African swine fever and the disorder of the agricultural market is more than likely to cause more damage to Croatian pig farming than it would if this disease had appeared here.

The damage that may occur to the Croatian pig farming industry this time is estimated at over 100 million euros. Due to the alarming situation on the market, the Croatian Association of Pork Producers is seeking the urgent involvement of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, and is also ready to offer solutions that could mitigate the consequences of this new situation, said Kresimir Kuterovac, president of the Croatian Association of Pork Producers.

The members of the Association are the largest producers of piglets, fatteners of Croatian piglets and producers of genetic material in Croatia, which annually produce about 700,000 pigs and keep 30,000 sows.

''Today, 70 percent of Croatia's pork needs are covered by imports from other EU countries. We want better market organisation to encourage the development of Croatian pig farming and reduce the import deficit, reduce the dependence of the meat industry on imports of raw materials, and to further valorize domestic quality (born-bred-slaughtered, following the example of developed EU countries). In Croatian stores, we must ensure the representation of Croatian products by implementing the EU regulation on market organisation, and it should be noted that Croatia is the only EU country that applies this regulation in practice in part, which allows the domestic market to be protected as much as possible from unfair import competition,'' they stated from the Croatian Association of Pork Producers.

The Croatian Association of Pork Producers stated that last week the worst possible scenario for Croatian pig farming happened, as the African swine fever disease appeared in Germany, which caused proverbial earthquakes on the German market. This caused the price of certain pork cuts to fall by as much as 20 cents or 13 percent in just one week. As Germany doesn't have the possibility of placing its produce on the markets of China and Asian countries an export ban was introduced for a certain period, and huge quantities of pork from Germany will find its sales channel here in Croatia. The price won't be important and retail chains will either stop buying meat from Croatian producers or there will be a horrendous drop in prices, which will further destroy domestic production and bring Croatian pork producers to the brink of financial profitability.

''We estimate that the prices in Croatia under the pressure of imported meat to fall to 7.5 kuna per kilogram of live weight, which will increase the loss per fattened animal to 100 kuna. This will result in a weekly loss of 1.3 million kuna on a total of 13,000 pigs produced per week. Since Croatian pig farmers aren't to blame for this situation, and the result could be worse than the appearance of African swine fever in Croatia, the Association is seeking the urgent involvement of the Croatian Government,'' said Kresimir Kuterovac.

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April 4, 2020 - Online communities around Croatia are now bringing Croatian farms to your doorstep. 

A tough part about the coronavirus pandemic in Croatia is that, because of the stringent measures in place, going to outdoor markets have become a thing of the past. 

The once-bustling markets, loud with sellers luring in buyers by convincing them that their product is the best, are mostly bleak and vacant until we’re on the other side of the coronavirus battle. 

However, one small light in the coronavirus pandemic is that it has forced creativity in order to sustain businesses, and Croatian farms that formerly only had a presence at their market stands now belong to large online communities. 

Who could have imagined a week ago, our babas and didas' eggs and produce would be advertised and sold online to be delivered to your doorstep? No one! But here we are.

With just one click, fish, fresh fruits, vegetables, honey, and eggs from your favorite sellers can be found on your doorstep the next day. 

The large number of virtual marketplaces that opened from Osijek to Dubrovnik testify that the OPGs, or Croatian farms, are determined to find a way to feed us all. 

A look at the online marketplaces around Croatia courtesy of Slobodna Dalmacija.

“Yesterday I ordered eggs, chard, young onions and radishes. A man brought me everything this morning, delivered to my door, and even left a small flower seedling as a gift. There was no contact, I paid them into their account, and they left me eggs and vegetables at my front door,” said a member of the Facebook group Virtual Pazar Split, which already has close to 12,000 members. Not only green products of local farmers are offered, but also delicacies from the continent, as well as lamb, cheese, and even donkey milk.

The virtual Zagreb market, however, gathered more than 35,000 members in a week. The group was founded by HSS spokeswoman Ivana Tomic. Food vendors can be advertised free of charge in Zagreb's virtual marketplace, where you can find everything from basil, to onions and mint, asparagus from Zadar. 

An official online marketplace was opened in Zagreb on Friday, and the launch of a drive-in purchase on the green market has been announced. About fifty family farms and artisans from the Zagreb area and its surroundings are offering products online.

On the page, you can see how they deliver the goods, delivery times, and what locations they cover. The profile of each OPG on to the platform has their contact information, product list and price. Besides calling them, customers can also place an order through a query that goes to the farmer’s email address.

Lana Šegetin from Dubrovnik founded the Facebook group Virtual Dubrovnik Market. It brings together members from Peljesac to Konavle, and all local food producers from the wider Dubrovnik area and the surrounding area can advertise and offer their products for free. More than 7,000 people from the Dubrovnik-Neretva County have joined the group.

Through the website kupujdomaće.hr, 450 Vrgorac family farms producing strawberries, apples, grapes, eggs, nectarines, honey, and quality wines could be found. Clicking on a fruit or vegetable icon opens a rich list of OPGs offering that selected product.

“I sell green onions, parsley, collards, leeks,” advertises an OPG on the page Virtual plaza - Neretva Valley. 

“We sell oranges, apples, fresh cow's cheese, seedlings of all kinds of vegetables, ajvar, lemons, sweet potato, and more,”

Citizens of Velika Gorica, Sisak, Pula, Osijek, Varaždin, Bjelovar can also enjoy virtual markets.

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