November 14, 2020 - Franck Barista Club awarded nine cafes in Dalmatia for serving the best coffee in Croatia. Among them is Paradiso Bar in Split!

Dalmatinski Portal reports that to promote excellence in catering facilities, for the second year in a row, Franck awarded their best Croatian partners a prestigious award, affirming consistency in continuously monitoring and supporting their work. Among the Franck Barista Club award winners who serve guests top-quality coffee are nine cafes from Dalmatia.

The best coffee in Split, according to the expert jury from Franck, is served in Caffe Bar Clo, Caffe Bar Lerone, Paradiso Bar, and La Favela Caffe. Pirovac boasts Caffe Bar Rišpet, and Šibenik Caffe Bar Moderato Cantabile. In Zadar, as many as three cafes received awards, namely Bar & Caffe Indie, Caffe Bar Harbor and Coffe and Cake 2.

The selection of cafes that best prepare and serve hot drinks was evaluated by the method of secret guests, guided by criteria such as quality and presentation of espresso and other coffee drinks, maintenance of equipment, and serving guests.

"With projects such as the Franck Barista Club, we provide full support to our partners in the hospitality industry, further encourage and promote excellence and confirm our commitment to creating trends and raising the quality of espresso and other coffee drinks in restaurants in Croatia," said Mislav Žižanović, Head of Trade Marketing for HoReCa channel.

Last year, when the Franck Barista Club award ceremony was launched for the first time, 31 restaurants were nominated, and a total of 17 in 10 Croatian cities received the awards. This year, the number of nominees rose to 58, and each of them was visited four times by Franck's evaluators, otherwise baristas with rich professional experience. A total of 13 catering establishments received the highest score of 45 points, and 38 catering establishments acquired the conditions for receiving the Franck Barista Club award.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

As Novac writes on the 9th of May, 2020, the coronavirus-induced state of affairs in the country has brought many changes with it, but Croatia's undying love for a certain warm, caffeinated drink hasn't changed. The fact that Croatia's residents can hardly wait to get out and drink coffee on the terraces of their favourite cafes with their loved ones again has been confirmed by the latest research by the Hendal agency and the Croatian company Franck, which was conducted in May.

The coronavirus epidemic has negatively affected a significant number of Croatia's residents (87 percent), mostly the inhabitants of Dalmatia, in their emotional lives as well as in a practical sense, since the epidemic broke out, most stated that they had felt dissatisfaction (53 percent), anger (29 percent) and sadness (29 percent) due to the new situation. Interestingly, as many as 34 percent of citizens, primarily men, stated that the coronavirus epidemic and the restrictions that came with it caused them to experience boredom in their daily lives, while 28 percent felt lonely but also sad, and in the latter, women in particular stand out. On the other hand, about a third of citizens (34 percent) tried to maintain a positive attitude and hoped that life would return back to normal soon.

As they pointed out, they miss spending time with people that mean the most to them more than anything (78 percent), taking trips and travelling (48 percent) and drinking coffee in cafes (44 percent).

The fact that Croatia's residents are chomping at the bit and looking forward to the reopening of cafes and terraces is shown by the fact that 47 percent of them will visit a cafe in the first week of them reopening to drink their favourite coffee, while a third (32 percent) say they will continue to wait until the situation stabilises even more.

The drink that the majority of people (71 percent) will order first will be coffee, and 57 percent of them would like to drink it with friends and with a partner (32 percent), of course with strict adherence to the anti-coronavirus measures which are still in place and the instructions of the National Civil Protection Headquarters. Residents of all regions of Croatia, and especially residents of Dalmatia, are looking forward to drinking coffee in cafes again.

The crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic didn't really have a significant impact on the habits of 63 percent of Croatian residents when it comes to coffee drinking rituals, as evidenced by the fact that 66 percent of people, who usually have the habit of visiting cafes, will continue this habit in the exact same way they did before the epidemic. During the restrictions, for 47 percent of coffee lovers, only the location in which they drank their coffee changed.

"This situation has taught us a lot, and the most important thing is to be near to each other. Recent research shows that coffee is drunk on almost all occasions, and it's up to us to make that possible, of course with all precautions taken into consideration. We're working every day to alleviate what these new circumstances bring for our customers and consumers, so, we've provided coffee outside at additional locations, and now that the catering and hospitality industry is re-starting, we have all the capacities to support that ready,'' said Franck.

Earlier on, Handel's research, which was also conducted in collaboration with Franck in October last year, showed that Croatia is indeed a country of coffee drinkers and "let's go for a coffee" is still by far the most common (87.5 percent) invitation for socialisation among Croats.

The most popular types of coffee are ground (Turkish) coffee and espresso in a cafe that is drunk by almost 70 percent of respondents, and when coffee is mentioned, 28 percent of citizens cite the morning, 16 percent cite upon waking up, 15 percent cite the smell, while 14 percent mention Franck.

For more, follow our lifestyle page.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes on the 13th of September, 2019, the responsibility of Franck's tasters and development team is very big, because they need to be able to decide whether to purchase a large amount of a certain type of coffee on the basis of a sample of a mere 300 to 500 grams of it.

Croats tend to prefer the so-called ''dark coffee'' aromas, dominated by chocolate, hazelnut and almond flavours, and per capita, coffee consumption in this country ranges from around 5.2 to 6 kilograms, while the EU average is 5.8 kilograms.

Franck is Croatia's oldest and largest roasting ''machine'' and currently boasts a processing capacity of between 20 and 80 tonnes per day, depending on the season and of course, the product structure.

As Franck's Zoran Škevin explained to Poslovni Dnevnik during a visit to the Zagreb factory, the capacity of receiving coffee is 10 tons per hour, and every day, Franck receive 4-6 units of coffee with an average of 26 tons of coffee per truck.

"We work with about 20 different coffees, and our raw materials come from countries around the equator. We keep an eye on what's happening on the market, and since coffee is a commodity, we have to balance it well with seasonality and price and quality, which is a very complex business,'' Škevin explained.

He added that Franck now has more than 170 different items in his portfolio, and 100 or so of them are coffee. Vesna Mihatov, who directs research, development and coffee supply at Franck, pointed out that the company has developed a total of 23 new products this year alone, including innovations such as Franck Coffee & GO.

There are also new Smart, Protein and Energy coffee beverages with the addition of functional ingredients including proteins, vitamins and minerals to respond to the growing trend of healthy eating and overall care for a more healthy lifestyle.

The Zagreb coffee factory pointed out that all of Franck's products are made from premium raw materials, with a strategic focus on innovation and a well-established team of experts in the research, development and procurement of coffee and its subsequent production. The coffee is unloaded every day at Franck's facilities in Zagreb in 60 kg bags. They explained that only raw materials with maximum positive properties are selected for the eventual production of coffees like Superior and others, or single-origin coffees such as Guatemala and Columbia.

The coffee arrives at Franck via various European ports from around 70 countries in the area located around the equator.

Once a sample is selected, the shipment is monitored all the time - during storage, before loading into the trucks at the port and before being shipped to Franck's silo for raw coffee. Given the fact that there is a fully automated production system, all these rigorous pre-controls are necessary to ensure the same, consistent quality of coffee throughout the entire journey. Raw coffee is purchased on a sample basis, and Master Cuppers, or tasters are responsible for checking its quality.

"Man and his senses are still irreplaceable, despite all the measuring instruments at our disposal. If the Master Cupper senses that a particular sample of coffee in the cup has negative characteristics, or if it lacks the fullness, aromaticity and richness of taste to be had, then that type is rejected, even if the results of the previous analyses are in accordance with the standards. The responsibility of the Master Cupper and the entire development team is very big, because on the basis of a sample of only 300 to 500 grams, they need to be able to make a decision on buying large quantities of that coffee, ot even over 50 tons of it,'' explained Vesna Mihatov.

The very process of "production" of coffee in Franck takes place so that the raw coffee, which has previously passed all the stringent tests, is unloaded onto the conveyor belt in the reception area and the receiving line capacity is 10 tons oer hour. This is followed by cleaning and the purified grains are transferred to silos, which have a total capacity of 1100 tonnes.

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

How do you like your morning coffee?

Franck's popular crisps fall victim to the bank.

Just how did branding help some of the most powerful and recognisable Croatian labels develop cult-like status on the global market?

Franck isn't happy with Agrokor's extraordinary commissioner, and in turn, he isn't all that impressed with Franck's reactions, either.

ZAGREB, May 19, 2018 - The Frank company on Saturday reacted to a statement by the extraordinary administrator of the Agrokor conglomerate Fabris Peruško, who said that a settlement would be reached by a temporary creditors council, saying that it would be forced to ask a court to take urgent measures to prevent "further, scandalous and unlawful decisions of the extraordinary administration."

ZAGREB, May 2, 2018 - Franck, a Croatian coffee, tea and snacks company, stated on Wednesday that it would not be possible for the creditors' council for Agrokor to be established by 10 July, after the High Commercial Court accepted the complaints of ten local and foreign creditors and quashed the decision on establishing a creditors' council along the lines of the differentiation of creditors into five groups.

Franck is celebrating its 125th birthday and offering free cups of coffee at Johann Franck tomorrow!