ZAGREB, 17 June 2021 - Croatia will finally start using EU funding from the Animal Welfare measure, which will be increased by HRK 130 million this year, the Jutarnji List daily said on Thursday.

In 2021 HRK 220 million will be paid to 1,700 users, and in 2020 HRK 90 million was disbursed.

The measure has been used for years by Croatia's competing countries, and it is an additional source of income to many meat, milk, and eggs producers, whom it helped overcome numerous crises and problems.

Following negotiations with the European Commission, it was agreed to increase the average support for welfare in cattle breeding by 187%, in pig breeding by 235%, in poultry breeding by 188%, in goat breeding by 125%, and in sheep breeding by 127%.

In addition, a new HRK 92 million operations for encouraging the use of livestock manure on arable land was negotiated. It was approved because of the devastating data on humus content in our soil due to intensive field production, and it is expected that support will amount to €215 per hectare.

President of the Croatiastočar association, Branko Bobetić, said that the new measures for this your would enable a larger number of applications, adding that farmers could get €10 to €250 per head.

(€1 = HRK 7. 484807)

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

January 4, 2020 – A map showing production across the former Yugoslavia details the sustained prosperity of many Croatian favourites as some of the strongest Croatian brands are shown not only to have survived but have succeeded following independence

Media across Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia have surprised younger readers and reminded older readers with the publication of a map detailing production in the former Yugoslavia. While this trip down memory lane has caused a range of reactions across the countries of the former republic, looking at the map from a purely Croatian perspective gives some enlightening information. Namely, many of the strongest Croatian brands visible on the map are recognisable today. Some of the strongest Croatian brands not only survived independence but have since grown.

Bajadera - one of the most popular products made by Zagreb-based chocolate and confectionery manufacturers Kraš

Zagreb-based chocolate and confectionery manufacturers Kraš, Požega-based confectionery and drinks manufacturers Zvečevo, oil company INA, Koprivnica-based food company Podravka and Koprivnica-based pharmaceuticals company Belupo, vitamin drink Cedevita, Varaždin-based food company Vindija, Vukovar shoemakers Borovo, Varaždin clothes designers and manufacturers Varteks and multi-use condiment Vegeta are just some of the strongest Croatian brands that are present on the map. You are still likely to see these brand names on many Croatian high streets. Some have succeeded in reaching further into international markets since Croatian independence.

Croatian-made condiment Vegeta is sold all over the world

Of course, not every brand visible on the map of Yugoslavia production has fared so well. In their coverage of the map, Ri.portal reminds that “Some of the Yugoslav products were used by literally the whole world - ships, cars, planes, trucks, weapons and even computers were produced... However, many of these companies no longer exist or are bankrupt.”

In their coverage of the map, Bosnian website Klix reminds that Croatian shipyards Uljanik in Pula and 3 Maj in Rijeka were at world level and produced large ships for customers from all over the world. Split-based shipyard Brodosplit, which can also be seen on the map, survives to this day.

Croatian vitamin drink Cedevita comes in a range of flavours

Ri.portal goes on to remember that Yugoslavia was one of only five countries in Europe at the time that manufactured its own computers. “Probably the most famous is the Galaxy, while the first computer produced was the CER-10,” they say. One of the Yugoslav computer makers on the map, popular in the late 1970s, was Digitron, based in Buje in Istria.

Sadly, not all of the strongest Croatian brands have made it until today. Famous tractor and agriculture equipment manufacturer Tomo Vinković of Bjelovar is no longer in production. Their famously-reliable machines are much in-demand on the secondhand market. Two new tractor manufacturers, Hittner doo and the Prima tractor factory still make tractors in Bjelovar.

December 19, 2020 – A surprising success story in a difficult year as Croatia agriculture and food exports jump in 2020, while imports of the same have fallen

Good news from any place is welcome in this most difficult of years. According to provisional data from the country's Central Bureau of Statistics, the total value of Croatia agriculture and food exports in the period from January to September 2020 amounted to 1.7 billion Euros, an increase of 5 percent from the same period in 2019. Within the same period, the value of agricultural and food imports into Croatia was 2.5 billion Euros, a decline of 7.3 percent from last year.

The success of Croatia agriculture and food exports in the period means that the country's trade deficit has decreased by huge 26.6 percent compared to the same period last year. With this year's findings taken into account, the trade deficit now stands at 758.8 million Euros.

© Romulić & Stojčić

Croatia agriculture and food exports covered 69 percent of total imports this year, an increase of 8.11 percent. A total of 15.86 percent of all exports from the country come from the Croatia agriculture and food exports sector.

The most important item of production within the sector is corn, which accounts for 5.4 percent of all Croatia agriculture and food exports.

From January to September 2020, the most significant products in exports were: cereals (205.4 million Euros – a growth of a huge 62.6 million Euros); various food products (168.1 million Euros – including manufactured/processed foods like sauces, soups, ice cream, sugar products); fish and other seafood (a huge 147.4 million Euros – showing a growth of 14.5 million Euros); cereals, flour, starch or milk products; confectionery products, including chocolate (135.9 million Euros – a growth of 13.8 million Euros), and tobacco-related products (122.6 million Euros). TCN recently took a closer look at the successful and well-established Croatian chocolate industry

Other successes within 2020 Croatia agriculture and food exports were live animals, with an increase of 10.1 million Euros, and the residue and waste of the food industry, which is exported to go into prepared animal foods. The latter saw an increase of 8.6 million Euros.

So far this year, Italy was one of the most important destinations for Croatia agriculture and food exports. Their total consumption of Croatia agriculture and food exports was 300.8 million Euros, which amounts to 17.76 percent of Croatia's exports in the sector. Croatia agriculture and food exports to Italy increased by 21.9 percent this year, while imports from Italy to Croatia in the same period was 263 million Euros, a decrease of 16.6 percent on 2019. This creates a surplus of 37.6 million Euros.

The most important Croatia agriculture and food exports to Italy are maize, wheat and soybeans, tobacco-related products, sea bass (brancin) and bream (orada).

For the last five years, Croatia agriculture and food exports top consumer has been Germany. For the past seven years, Germany has also been the country from which Croatia has imported the most.

ZAGREB, September 13, 2020 - The drop in prices caused by the coronavirus crisis adversely affects meat production in Croatia, according to an analysis of the Smarter consulting firm specialised in agriculture and the food industry.

The analysis, released recently by Smarter, warns that the price of a side of pork dropped by 14.7% on the year in the EU while in Croatia it fell by 6.2%, which means that the price of pork on the domestic market was 7% higher compared to the average price in the EU.

However, this means that domestic farmers cannot compete with the prices of pork from the EU and that surplus meat from the EU will quickly end up on the Croatian market, bringing down the price of domestic meat, Smarter underscored.

The price of a side of veal is now 8% lower than the EU average, they pointed out.

There was a dramatic fall in demand in the HORECA (Hotel/Restaurant/Cafe) sector on the Italian market due to the coronavirus crisis, and export to the Middle East was halted and reduced, which resulted in a sudden surplus in domestic veal, Smarter said.

According to the analysis, despite the short-term measures taken by the Agriculture Ministry to help the sectors, it is much more important what kind of impact such trends could have on long-term meat production in Croatia and the position of farmers.

A positive trend in the pig sector is the 7% increase in self-sufficiency, and Croatia was one of the few countries in the EU to register an increase in pork consumption per capita, which is 13% above the EU average, Smarter noted.

At the same time, self-sufficiency in beef production dropped by 6%, they said.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, Aug 6, 2020 - The drop in the competitiveness of the Croatian food industry needs to be stopped on time with strong measures, investments in developing new products and innovation as well as by improving the investment climate, the Smarter consultancy says in an analysis released on Thursday.

"Considering that this is a challenging time for all sectors, it is necessary to support further growth and strengthen the food and beverages industry, with emphasis on exports and greater investment in developing new products and innovation, but in particular on improving the investment climate," the consulting firm specialising in agriculture and the food industry said.

Smarter's Zvjezdana Blazic notes that in its package of measures to help the economy the European Commission has set a maximum grant of €100,000 for farms while food manufacturers can get up to €800,000.

There have been no serious initiatives to boost the food industry in Croatia, as has been the case in some EU countries. We believe that now is the time to tackle this issue as Croatia's international competitiveness is declining, said Blazic.

Smarter recommends establishing a forum for the food industry on the model of the European Union, which would include all stakeholders in the chain to search for solutions that would strengthen the industry's competitiveness.

The share of the food industry in Croatia's GDP was 4%  in 2014, falling to 2.9% in 2017. The share of the manufacturing industry in GDP also decreased, from 26.9% in 2014 to 22.5% in 2017. The share of employment in the food industry in total employment in the manufacturing industry stagnates around 3.6% in manufacturing and about 20% in the food industry. The total number of workers was 47,275 at the end of 2019, decreasing over the past few years.

The analysis shows that the reason for low productivity in Croatia's food industry is due to insufficient investment in research and development. Investment in R&D is a mere 0,13% of the value of production whereas the EU average is 0.23%.

Croatia needs to strengthen its food industry in order to keep in step with strong competition in the EU, the analysis said.

Croatia needs to do everything to reduce this industry's exposure to additional parafiscal charges, said Blazic.