If anything, Croats are big fans of cured meats and love to share spreads of good cured meat called platas with friends and family. At any type of celebration that gathers more than four people I guarantee you'll find a wooden flat board with a whole range of salamis, sausages, prosciutto, ham etc.

These products are most often made from pork or a pork-beef combination, but pork usually prevails. Actually, six of them have received EU protection in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications. We consume them in large quantities and are very proud of our tradition.

Home alone and lazy? A couple of hard boiled eggs and a pair of sausages are on the menu.

Don't know what to eat for lunch at work? Bread with some kind of salami with cheese spread or butter.

Most popular types of sausages:

Kranjska: 75-80 percent pork and no more than 20 percent fat, best served fried

Debrecinka: A mixture of pork and beef, slightly smoked, best when cooked

Češnjovka: Made from pork and spices with a strong hint of garlic, best when fried

Pečenice: Made from pork in a very thin sausage casing, slightly smoked, best when grilled

Most popular types of salamis:

Zimska: The most popular salami made form pork, in a casing covered with white mold which gives it its characteristic flavour

Čajna: Made form pork, traditionally smoked on beech tree, lighter taste but similar to Zimska

Milanska: Made from best cuts of pork inspired by Italian techniques which means it isn't as finely ground and has a softer bite to it

Srijemska: Made from pork, carries a bit more taste due to red a paprika spice which gives it the deep red colour

Kulen: Made from pork, this pearl of Slavonia is one of the best things you can taste in Croatia, slightly spicy due to hot red paprika

Although you can buy all these kinds in a local shop the best ones are the homemade ones. This January, after a two year break, my family finally decided to make a new batch of homemade sausages and salamis. Winter is the best time of year since it's cold so the meat won't go bad while drying.

Now, I'm in no position to discover the real recipe my father has kept hidden for years (this year he did hint at the used ratios) but I'll give you some useful tips on how to make delicious sausages and salamis. The must haves are a couple of volunteers and two days, it's best to do it over the weekend.

When making salamis, the ratio of pork to beef is around 80:20.

The meat and fat ratio is 80:20. We add salt and pepper and then some garlic water.

When making sausages, the pork-beef ratio is the same but the meat-fat ratio is 85:15. The spices are the same.

The meat needs to be minced and the fat needs to be cut into tiny little cubes because the worst thing is when you bite into a sausage and get a chunk of fat in your mouth. You mix it all well, the meat, the fat, the spices and leave it to sit, it's best to do that over night.

The next day, you fill the sausage casings by using a sausage maker machine. You have to have a light yet firm touch, be careful casings as they can tear apart easily. After that, you hang them and dry them in a fumatory for couple of weeks to a couple of months.

And there you have it, the method of making sausages and salamis in couple of simplified steps. As long as you drink a gemišt every thirty minutes or so, then you're good to go.

When Marin Pucar took over Podravka back in February last year, he comically stated, "Once you go Podravka, you're always Podravka!"

As Marina Sunjerga/VL/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 11th of November, 2018, Pucar experienced returning to the large domestic food company, at which he worked for twelve years, very emotionally. Pucar also has many goals and plans set up for the huge company to aim for.

Pucar's big plans for Podravka were soon realised because the Koprivnica-based food company achieved net operating profits of a massive 186 million kuna during the first nine months of 2018, which is the best result and the highest operating profit in Podravka's long history. These sparkling financial results saw employee salaries increase by 1000 kuna and the company get closer to reaching its goal of being a food business consolidator in Croatia, these praiseworthy achievements brought Pucar to his very well-deserved nomination for businessman of the year for 2018.

It is also important to point out his engagement in resolving the crisis in Agrokor from his position as the president of the association of Agrokor's suppliers, which acted uniquely to protect the interests of domestic companies.

''Podravka is a very good company'', said Pucar when he came to the head of the company, but added that it can and should be better because Podravka is much more than just its numerous brands and products.

In just a year and a half of his mandate, Marin Pucar has achieved excellent results with his team. He announced Vegeta's strong development, involving a wide range of products. In his vision and strategy, Vegeta will be branded completely with the culinary field, and all kinds of dishes.

''That's the aim, if we succeed, and we believe that we will,'' Pucar said in an interview for Večernji list.

''We'll secure Vegeta for another hundred years, and add new, additional value for Podravka,'' added Pucar.

Among the priorities, Pucar also emphasised the improvement of the rights and the material conditions of employees as the company's most valuable resource. ''Without satisfied workers, there can be no successful company,'' Pucar said. Namely, The salaries of the lowest paid employees in Podravka will increase by about 1000 kuna a month, which is one of the moves other entrepreneurs must follow if they truly want to retain quality workers.

The lowest wage in Podravka now amounts to 4,000 kuna per month. Through a collective contract, Podravka's employees have been granted a jubilee reward, and the company will pay them 1000 kuna per year for voluntary pension savings, which will eventually provide them with larger pensions when they retire. One of the goals that Pucar has set in front of him is, as stated, to position Podravka as a consolidator for the food industry, as well as the generator of the development of domestic agricultural production.

Accordingly, the company is expanding its cooperation with subcontractors and domestic OPGs to ensure that by the year 2022, its global brands such as Vegeta are secure. To achieve this goal requires a two to three year investment cycle, but the capacities needed by Podravka are sufficient to trigger a serious segment of Croatian agriculture. Part of the financing of these investments was secured by the company from EU funds.

Podravka itself has an impressive investment potential of around 200 million euro, so new acquisitions could realistically be expected. The company's presence on numerous traditional markets such as that of Poland, Hungary, and Russia, is set to increase. Pucar also played an important role in the rehabilitation of the formerly ailing Agrokor Group from the position of the president of the Association of Agrokor's suppliers.

The challenge was to protect and preserve the rights and interests of Agrokor's suppliers, while at the same time not compromise the position of Agrokor, and Agrokor's giant Konzum as the largest domestic retail chain. Unlike various other companies, Podravka didn't stop its deliveries to the then suffering Konzum, thereby confirming its responsibility for the continuation of Konzum's operations and the preservation of jobs.

The successful running of this extremely complex process resulted in the stabilisation of Agrokor's operations, a large part of the Croatian economy, and the preservation of Agrokor's supplier stability.

Otherwise, Pucar has spent most of his career in the food industry. He started his professional career at Gavrilović back in 2001, and one year later, he was in Podravka's meat industry, Danica, where he was the director of sales, marketing and development. He quickly moved to Podravka's high position of director for the Croatian market, and from 2008 to 2012, he was a member of the management of the company.

After five years with Podravka, he went to Zvečevo, which he led before returning as Podravka's main man.

Want to keep up with more news like this from Croatia? Make sure to follow our business page.

Click here for the original article by Marina Sunjerga/VL on Poslovni Dnevnik

Sandra Perković meets Podravka. Linking Croatian companies and Croatian athletes is important for the overall strengthening of the image of Croatian products across the world.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 26th of October, 2018, one of the best Croatian athlete of all time, Sandra Perković, and the president of Podravka's board, Marin Pucar, signed an agreement on cooperation by which Sandra Perkovic becomes the ambassador of Podravka's products under the brand Vegeta Natur. The agreement was signed on Thursday, October the 25th, during Croatian Tourism Days (Dani Hrvatskog Turizma) held on the island of Hvar, under the organisation of the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

"We're proud that our most successful athlete of all time, Sandra Perković, has joined the Podravka family. It's a great pleasure to bind ourselves to the best ones [athletes] who share in Podravka's important values such as valuable work, setting high goals, and the pursuit of excellence. These are the foundations of Sandra's best achievements, but also of Podravka's successful business,'' Podravka's Marin Pucar said during the signing of the Contract on cooperation, adding his desire for Sandra to take the title of the best athlete of the world this year, as she so deserves.

''I've grown up with Podravka's products and I'm glad I'm able to pass on the message about the quality and the value of these products to others through my work and my sporting activities. Connecting Croatian companies and Croatian athletes helps to promote Croatia's top-quality products across the world,'' stated Sandra Perković.

With its numerous brands and products, Podravka is present on more than sixty international markets.

Vegeta, as the original Croatian product, has become somewhat of a culinary phenomenon. In its almost six decades of existence, Vegeta has entered into the kitchens of consumers all over the world. In line with the trends on the culinary market, Vegeta has been being continuously upgraded throughout the years, and now we have Vegeta Natur.

Vegeta Natur products are enhanced with new recipes, which include a combination of carefully selected vegetables and spices with the message which bear the message ''by Mother Nature's recipe''.

During the Days of Croatian Tourism event was a panel called "Croatia - small country, big brand", in which Davor Bruketa, Jadranka Primorac, Aleksandar Dojčinović, Kristijan Staničić, and Božo Skoko participated along with Marina Pucar and Sandra Perković. Marin Pucar pointed out that Croatia's popularity in terms of tourism and sport should also be transferred into other spheres of the country's wider offer, particularly in terms of strengthening the image of Croatia's many top quality food products across the world.

For the latest news about Olympian champion Sandra, follow the TCN page here.

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