January the 7th, 2022 - The Zagreb company Delt Papir is well known here in Croatia, and it seems that they're branching out, aiming not just at Europe, but at far more distant markets such as that of Japan.

As Novac/Jutarnji/Vedran Marjanovic writes, formerly known for its technological innovations and breakthroughs in the production of paper hygiene products and sanitary equipment, the Zagreb company Delt papir has made another noteworthy business step these days by founding a company in no less than Japan.

This is the company Tubeless Japan, with which the Zagreb company Delt Papir, as its director Krunoslav Kisak explained, will try to penetrate one of the strongest and richest markets in the entire world.

''Tubeless is a brand of Delt papir with which we're present in 27 countries across Europe and the Middle East through our distributors. The opening of the company in Japan is a big step forward for our company in terms of the further internationalisation of the Tubeless brand,'' said Kisak. Alen Krajacic is a member of the Management Board and co-owner of Delt Papir alongside Kisak, and the company has been operating since back in 2003.

The most logical reaction to the aforementioned business step for the Zagreb company Delt Papir would be that this is the first company founded by Croatian businessmen in one of the world's leading economic powers and one of the strongest and richest, and many would also add the most closed off markets in the world.

''According to our Ambassador to Japan Drazen Hrastic, during his tenure in the past six years, no Croatian company has opened a branch in Japan,'' revealed Kisak, confirming the assessment at least for the latest period of Croatian-Japanese economic relations.

According to the CBS, Croatia exports goods worth 334 million kuna a year to Japan, with food products such as tuna, wine, cheese and olive oil having the largest share. Japan is not even among the 25 most important export markets for Croatian companies, and given this data, Delt Papir's decision to enter the Japanese market only gains more weight.

''Japan's market is quite literally enormous in terms of its users, as it is a country with 126 million inhabitants, but also as the world's third largest economy. This market is ready for Croatian IoT innovation which increases and facilitates the insight into the consumption of paper towels, toilet paper, soap and other consumables and provides a level of control over it, all through our software that is unique,'' Kisak explained when discussing the motives Delt Papir has which made them create Tubeless Japan.

The Tubeless brand includes, among other things, toilet paper with a specific packaging without a cardboard tube, soap holders and disinfectants. For the further development of this brand, the Zagreb company Delt Papir was also provided with co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund through support totalling 7.8 million kuna.

''Over on the Japanese market, we expect accelerated sales growth, which we believe we'll successfully be able to monitor given the investment in the new production capacities of Tubeless products over the last 12 months, worth almost 23 million kuna. In Japan, the hygiene of everything in general, including in toilets, is at an unimaginably high level, so we're convinced that Tubeless, along with the IoT solution, is perfect for the Japanese market,'' said Kisak.

Asked whether the Zagreb company Delt Papir could count on the help of the Croatian Embassy in Tokyo when it arrived on the Japanese market, Kisak said that it provided an introductory presentation of Tubeless products and networking.

''We started thinking about starting the company Tubeless Japan back in 2019 with our colleague Edward Vondra, who has been living in Japan since 2014,'' Kisak noted.  Referring to the regulatory conditions in Japan when it comes to opening a company, Kisak explained that starting a company isn't much more complex than the procedure to do the same here in Croatia.

''The most time was spent adjusting to Japanese laws and getting multiple translations of documents with certain specifics that each country has when opening a new company. The biggest specificity is that everything that is done in Japan must be perfect. Perfect in design, functionality and innovation. We believe that Tubeless is just such a brand,'' concluded the director of the Zagreb company Delt Papir, which employs about 70 people in its plants and business offices in Jankomir, and ended the last business year with annual revenue of 134 million kuna in 2020 and a profit of ten million kuna.

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May the 11th, 2021 - The Zagreb Delt Papir company did well over the last year as the coronavirus pandemic swept through Croatia, Europe and the rest of the world and we needed more... toilet paper.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sergej Novosel Vuckovic writes, the pandemic which struck during spring last year was a prime time for production for the Zagreb Delt Papir company, and it was necessary for them to work in three shifts at their Jankomir plant, because due to the general shortage of toilet paper throughout Europe, many turned to them to meet their increasing demands.

The Zagreb Delt Papir company sometimes had to reject requests for more of their products, but despite that, the whole of 2020 can be considered successful for this enterprise, not only by the fact that with revenues of 130 million kuna they approached the levels of their record year of pre-pandemic 2019, but also because of the fact that at the end of the year they started working on the conceptual design of their brand new Ola’la products.

Launched only relatively recently, a few years after their last hit, which was lemon-scented kitchen towels, the Zagreb Delt Papir company has marketed new types of rolls of paper towels and toilet paper.

“We started this story by deciding to make a roll of paper towels that is very tall, as tall as 27 centimetres, and the cellulose we use has much stronger absorbent properties and pronounced strength. We focused on gathering the experiences of our customers and designed a product tailored to every modern household - Ola’la Butler paper towels in three packaging variants. The product is for every household, regardless of whether the person spends very little time there or a lot (today a large number of people work from home),'' stated the directors and co-owners of the Zagreb Delt Papir company, Krunoslav Kisak and Alen Krajacic.

The Zagreb Delt Papir products also meet strict environmental certificates, since their so-called ''I’m green foil'' is made from 60 percent green polyethylene derived from sugar cane.

We're paying more and more attention to the materials, so we "wrapped" the entire professional segment in ''I'm green'' foil. In the production process, we recycle all recycled surpluses and reuse them in certain products,'' they explained from Delt Papir. The new paper, Ola’la Premium, is said to be made with new technology.

"We use super soft, but very durable cellulose that leaves a soft touch on the skin. We believe that there can be no room for compromise when it comes to personal hygiene because, as we've been witnessing for more than a year now, it's extremely closely related to health,'' the company's leaders noted.

With cellulose, as an unsustainable raw material in the production of a necessary item, things are becoming more difficult and more expensive.

''The prices of raw materials have been rising sharply for all raw materials, especially when it comes to paper and packaging (cardboard and foil), and accordingly, production prices are rising sharply. The predictions are that it will continue to grow, and we're following the trends with the hope that this disturbance on the market will slowly come back under control,'' they explained. Since they're innovating as a company, at the beginning of last summer they were able to adapt to the conditions of the pandemic and introduce a new product: protective masks, which were also in short supply on the market, even in the case of those produced in China.

"Yes, last year we decided to go with a new production segment practically overnight because we struggled with the purchase of protective masks for our employees. Today, we're present in large retail chains such as Lidl and Kaufland, and more recently on the shelves of Dm, and we also supply various distributors. The market struggle with cheaper Chinese goods is of course present, but given our certifications and Croatian production, we try to be competitive and continue with this segment because the demand for masks is actually increasing. So far, we've produced and sold more than ten million masks,'' stated Kisak and Krajacic.

The Zagreb Delt Papir company currently has 85 employees, with their number growing to 100 in the event of higher demand for their products. The company exports 53 percent of its production to 26 countries, to most of the EU and Switzerland, and their new markets are Finland, Iceland, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

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Since Croatia made it mandatory to wear masks when using public transport, masks of all kinds have once again become a much sought-after commodity. One Zagreb company, Delt Papir, wants to be the one to cover all of Croatia's mask related needs.

As Darko Bicak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 26th of June, 2020, assessing the situation on the market in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, the management board of Delt Papir invested 1.5 million kuna in a new plant for the production of certified three-layer surgical masks.

The coronavirus pandemic seems to have entered its second phase, and after a short period of stagnation, Croatia is again approaching higher and higher numbers of people testing positive for the new coronavirus. Over recent days, some epidemiological measures in Croatia have been tightened, and one of the key obligations is, as stated, to wear protective masks on public transport.

Therefore, questions about whether there will be a repetition of the scenario of mask shortages and a jump in their price yet again have come to the forefront.

However, it should be noted that in this "wave", the domestic industry has become a little bit more prepared because more and more Croatian companies have included the production of protective masks in their respective ranges. One of them is Zagreb's Delt Papir, which, as they themselves point out, is the first Croatian company which boasts completely local production of paper products for hygienic use.

As mentioned above, Delt Papir has already invested 1.5 million kuna in a new plant for the production of certified three-layer surgical masks. The investment was completed over recent days, and was realised in just two months.

As the director Alen Krajacic, who performs this function with Kruno Kisak, explains, the decision to produce surgical masks came from the need to protect their own employees, because there were simply not enough masks on the market to buy. Now their plan is to provide sufficient masks for domestic use.

Their production capacity is 25,000 masks per shift, and the number of shifts will, he says, depend on market demands.

Aware of the fact that local production is currently the mainstay of the crisis-shaken economy and that their production activities create a significant share of market recovery, with this project, as well as all previous investments, Delt Papir wants to make a strong contribution to the Croatian economy.

When planning a new production facility, we primarily wanted to ensure a calmer preparation of the domestic market for a possible second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Surgical masks are a very useful product without which at this moment we can practically not work in a team, use public transport, or make a purchase.

''Due to their special structure and filtering characteristics, surgical masks have proven effective in preventing the spread of droplets that occur during speech and breathing, and in everyday life, conversation is what forms the basis of work and life,'' explains Delt Papir's Alen Krajacic.

In addition to everyday life, we've witnessed a global crisis and a shortage of protective equipment which is necessary for the operation of medical institutions. Delt Papir says they want to make it easier for Croatian healthcare institutions to do their jobs without needing to wait a long time for shipments of masks coming in from abroad.

Although the situation with the procurement of protective equipment in Croatia has stabilised, the owners of Delt Papir emphasise the importance of domestic production, which in the coming period could be of great importance for the uninterrupted stability in the supply of protective equipment.

''Our hospitals and other healthcare institutions must, at all times, be able to supply their employees with protective equipment, especially protective surgical masks that are changed several times during shifts and are indispensable in working with patients.

Clearly, we hope and eagerly expect an adequate medical solution to end the battle with this virus, but time is relentless and we don't want to simply leave things to chance. Good production planning will certainly make a big difference if a new wave of coronavirus does occur,'' adds Kruno Kisak.

Delt Papir emphasises that the private sector is sure to face a battle with the ongoing and uncertain market turmoil, but companies engaged in the production of products which are of significant importance in line with the emerging economic needs should certainly continue to be supported because many jobs and people's health depend on them.

Delt Papir generated impressive revenues of 129 million kuna last year, which marked growth of 14 percent. They employ about 100 workers and process about 12,000 tonnes of paper a year. They ended last year with 50 percent of their earnings coming from exports, and in the first two months of this year, until the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, their exports rose to 65 percent. Masks are produced both for export and for the domestic market, so they have prepared box packaging in both Croatian and English.

"Export orders are constantly arriving, especially due to the fact that the masks are certified, and like paper clothing, we export them from the EU all the way to the Middle East. The production itself takes place through the parent company Delt Papir, and the distribution company Hygiene 4 You is in charge of distribution,'' explain Krajacic and Kisak.

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