December 22, 2020 – Thanks to the internet platforms Eko tržnica and Eceker, domestic products from the rich domestic Slavonian and Baranja gastronomic offer can be ordered to your doorstep even during the coronavirus epidemic.

As Lokalni.hr reports, even during the coronavirus pandemic, products from the rich domestic Slavonian and Baranja gastronomic offer can be ordered online to your doorstep. This is possible thanks to the two internet platforms – Eko tržnica and Eceker, both of which deliver in the area of Osijek-Baranja County and the City of Zagreb. Eko tržnica is a successful project that has been implemented at the Osijek market since 2013, and in the last few years in an online edition. Their phylosophy is that food production must not pollute nature but must return us to nature.

On Eko tržnica and Eceker websites, family farms with ecological certification for food production offer their products. Customers in Croatia are increasingly aware and are looking for products of guaranteed origin, and the goal of the Solidarity Ecological Group, which coordinates buying and selling, is an ethical business, aiming to leave profits in the hands of producers and offer customers products at producer prices.

"By buying local agricultural products, especially at a time when their sales are difficult due to epidemiological measures, we help our family farms, and we provide ourselves and our families with home-grown fruits and vegetables from Slavonian and Baranja fields," said Osijek-Baranja County Prefect Ivan Anušić.

Local food producers have also united through the Eceker platform, where they offer traditional products from Slavonia and Baranja. As in the case of the Eko tržnica, this is a project supported by the Osijek-Baranja County, and both platforms are open for cooperation with local producers in order to further enrich the offer to end customers. Customers can see and order domestic products on the website, and delivery is on the doorstep.

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ZAGREB, November 23, 2020 - The Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPK) on Monday called on the Croatians to buy locally grown and made products during December and thus increase local produce sales and support local farm jobs.

HPK representatives told a news conference in Zagreb that the preservation of the local agricultural production could be possible with the raised awareness of the purchase and consumption of local food and products.

"We are soon entering December, the month marked by the biggest spending, and although we are in a specific year when we are battling COVID-19, we believe that this is one more opportunity to demonstrate our agricultural patriotism," Tajana Radic of the HPK chamber said at the news conference.

She underscored that so far this year, there has been a marked increase in the purchase of produce from local family-run farms, and called for the promotion of the Croatian agricultural production, which, she said, is a way to  "help contribute to the growth of the (national) economy."

The HPK representatives said that this year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic also raised the awareness of boosting self-sufficiency in agriculture and of protecting the local production.

Croatians spent an estimated HRK 15.3 billion during the Christmas and New Year holidays in 2019, which was a half billion kuna more than in the corresponding period of 2018, Radic said.

This year, the consumption is likely to be reduced due to the corona crisis, however, this is an opportunity to focus on what we buy, Radic added.

More than a quarter of household budget goes on food

According to some estimates, Croatians spend more than 28% of their household budget on food, and similar ratio is expected during the Christmas holiday season, she noted,

"Every kuna spent on the purchase of the local products multiplies the effect on the growth and development of the Croatian agriculture and economy," she said.

During the news conference the Chamber presented the project called "Plavi Ceker" (the "Blue Grocery Bag" in an unofficial translation) launched by the City of Zagreb with the aim of  promoting high-quality agricultural produce and food made by local businesses from all parts of Croatia.

The purpose of the project is to help SMEs in marketing their products on the Zagreb market.

The Blue Grocery Bag project encompasses high-quality products made by local producers.