January the 23rd, 2022 - Croatian cream from Dugopolje, close to Split in the Dalmatian hinterland, has been winning over hearts (and skin) for half a century now, and the recipe has been passed down from generation to generation of this family.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Slavica Vukovic/VL writes, Zora's ointment (Zorina mast), a natural Croatian cream for the treatment of burns and various other skin problems, has gained in fame for 50 years now, having been made by 84-year-old Zora Cipcic from Dugopolje. People came from across the country to Dugopolje because of Zora's healing ointment, and she made it according to a recipe that has been passed down through her family.

However, as the years went by, she gradually stopped making this much loved Croatian cream because her health no longer allowed for what was involved in its creation, but her 23-year-old grandson, Goran Cipcic, made sure that her beloved old recipe did not fall into oblivion. Two years ago, as a student, he founded a startup and won the Start Croatia competition, Zora's ointment was declared a hit and he fought for its place on the shelves of the likes of Spar and Interspar.

This much loved Croatian cream made using an old family recipe has obviously helped very many people, thousands of comments from satisfied users have been recorded on social media, and as a good name is heard far and wide, it has opened the door to other stores for young Goran. Not only that, he has also expanded the range, and since last September he has been offering a very similar Croatian cream for hands under the Zorina mast brand, and in mid-February this year, a new, unique face cream will be on the shelves.

“We designed Zorina Mediterranea face cream, which is completely different from everything else on the market. It's completely natural, it has most of the ingredients Zorina mast has in it, but it's additionally enriched with magnesium, salt flower and some seaweed. It lasts for more than 12 hours on the skin, strongly moisturises and deeply hydrates it, and it also improves the skin's elasticity and firmness. It will be on sale in about a month,'' Cipcic proudly announced.

These Croatian creams are more suitable for application on the face and hands because they are easily and quickly absorbed. "Given that Zorina mast is a brand of natural cosmetics and helps with many types of skin problems that people often face, we first expanded the range to include hand cream. Why did we do that? Well, ever since the novel coronavirus appeared, people have treated their hands extremely harshly with disinfectants, many of which irritate, damage and dry out the skin. We went it because our hand cream repairs damaged skin and protects it. All the ointment ingredients are also in this Croatian cream, but we've supplemented them more. One of the key ingredients is probiotics, which create an additional protective layer for the skin. That's how we connected Zora's traditional recipe with modern trends,'' explained Goran.

We do make cosmetics, but we didn't really focus on dermocosmetics, but instead on what helps the skin to be healthy, and thus beautiful and youthful,'' added Goran, revealing what makes this Croatian cream and the rest of the range unique.

“We're the only ones in production who boil a part of the substance used, thus avoiding the addition of other raw materials. It’s that recipe that I got from my grandma. Everything she did, I do too, only what was a litre to her, I have 15 litres, there are machines, nothing is industrial, we do everything by hand. My goal is not to grow enormous production, but to continue in the traditional way. That gives our products a soul,'' added Goran.

He makes this special Croatian cream and his sister helps him. Since he is an economist, he develops the recipes in collaboration with, he says, the formulator of natural cosmetics.

“I tell her what I want and she advises me on how best I might achieve it. We're already preparing some new products, the first will be a face serum,'' concluded Goran Cipcic.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

January the 22nd, 2022 - The Feel Croatia project (Osjeti hrvatsku) has been launched, placing a focus on Croatian products, services, producers and local communities.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, the Croatian economy is extremely vulnerable, and at the same time, in true Croatian paradoxical style it is brimming with potential. It relies heavily on personal consumption and tourism, therefore requiring some new ways to identify opportunities on both the domestic and on foreign markets.

Therefore, a group of about 30 experts and entrepreneurs launched the Feel Croatia project, which aims to educate young people to understand why it's important to buy local, and promote product quality and innovation here on the Croatian market.

They also launched the eponymous digital platform www.oh.hr, which has been launched and created a group of exceptional experts and professionals experienced in several areas of economic activities - market communications, tourism, economy, journalism, presales and sales, marketing and digital marketing, and of course - entrepreneurship - to help Croatian businessmen, producers and service providers in one place.

The Feel Croatia project grew out of economic activities that took more than seven years to build through the NGO Centre for Entrepreneurs www.poduzetnica.hr, a former Women's Entrepreneurship Centre boasting more than 2,300 members and 128 members from 2015 to 2021.

"I'm looking forward to being the first user of the services of the team of experts and the Feel Croatia project and I'm also looking forward to the cooperation that is coming to us in this new year. In my range of entrepreneurial activities, I have a whole range of originally Croatian tourist, health, medical products and services, which have long since crossed the borders of Vukovar-Srijem County and my city of Vukovar, where I work. I'm sure that with the Feel Croatia project and these exceptional project experts, I will ensure a proper market position, clients, sales, promotion, but also recognition within the borders of our beautiful country, but also outside it, which is why I gave them my trust,'' said Dr. Mirjana Semenic Rutko , an entrepreneur from Vukovar.

"For many years, I've been watching everything that has to do with Croatia being 'devastated', and everything that comes from abroad is being put on a pedestal, praised and appreciated. We all know very well what is true, which is that domestic production, services and activities must not be neglected and devalued. Croatia certainly has something to offer. I'm glad that I was among the first to recognise the Feel Croatia project and that I'll be able to participate in it as an innovator, and an entrepreneur who appreciates Croatian products and services, but also provides them,'' said Davor Kovacic, an entrepreneur and innovator.

“The Feel Croatia project isn't only a new dimension for communication for presenting, connecting and promoting Croatian producers and products and service providers, the local community, as well as everything on the Croatian market, it's also systematic work done in order to raise awareness of domestic customers and all users on the Croatian market who will have a number of projects on offer. We'll do a lot of things that should further strengthen the market and develop domestic potential economically.

We want to work effectively on organic growth and development through numerous examples of success from across all parts of Croatia, from small family farms (OPGs) to large food giants and from the ordinary man to the world stars with Croatian roots because only then can we get the best Croatia and offer that to those who are the only ones competent to evaluate it - and these are our current and future customers and consumers,'' concluded Sanela Dropulic, the co-founder of the praiseworthy Feel Croatia project.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

January the 20th, 2022 - Croatian Post (Hrvatska posta) has apparently been introducing brand new services in order to up its game left, right and centre of late, and yet another new one has been launched. Aircash app payments can now be made in more than 1000 post offices across the country.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, from now on, customers can pay for goods and services carried out by Croatian Post in a total of 1,016 post offices with Aircash app payments, ie through the very first Croatian digital wallet which was and continues to be a roaring success on the domestic market.

In addition to following the trends and habits of consumers and customers in order to keep the existing ones and attract new ones, Croatian Post says that they want to strengthen their role of "a leader in the digitalisation of business in Croatia."

“Each of our post offices has a prominent QR code on the counters that the user of the Aircash application should read on his mobile phone when paying for something. You can pay for the retail range digitally in our post offices (except for HAC ENC vouchers, e-vouchers from mobile operators and lottery tickets), for all postal services, Paket24 express delivery services and philatelic products,'' they explained from Croatian Post.

Aircash is otherwise the fastest growing Croatian fintech with more than 200,000 active users based in Croatia alone, and it offers its users the ability to pay for items and withdraw cash through the application. This move in which Aircash app payments will be allowed for a range of Croatian Post's services will certainly appeal to many.

They are also registered with the European Banking Authority (EBA), which is the umbrella regulator and gives them the right to do business across all European Union (EU) member states. In addition to being very much present here in Croatia, they are available in neighbouring Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Spain and Romania, with plans to spread their wings even further across the bloc.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

January the 19th, 2022 - Former IT king Zeljko Brigljevic has created something quite impressive indeed - a furnace that breaks down environmentally harmful plastic and warms up the room.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, the Zagreb-based company Makro Gradnja, with Zeljko Brigljevic at the helm, has been carefully developing this innovation that is now available on the market for a decade now - Macro Converter, a specially designed biomass stove that, simply put, heats the space while removing plastic and creates fuel, which makes this Croatian product unique.

According to Zeljko Brigljevic, it could cheaply heat family hotels, mountain lodges, family farms, nursing/care homes, churches, health centres, and at the same time work to clean up the environment and create energy suitable for purchase.

"We've combined biomass heating, which is very popular in more developed countries, with the simultaneous decomposition of plastics, ie ''pyrolytic depolymerisation'', which produces energy. Simply put - we designed a biomass or wood chip stove, which is practically everything that burns - from abandoned Christmas trees, furniture scraps, seagrass, agricultural scraps - and added the possibility of plastic pyrolysis. Such a furnace provides the most favourable heating because fuel is found everywhere, and at the same time it removes plastic from the environment and produces pyrolytic oil from it. The pyrolysis process can also convert rubber.

Excellent fuel can be obtained from old trainers. The oil can be delivered for further processing to industries, such as a small refinery, and such fuels on the free market reach purchase prices of up to ten kuna per litre, which also gives the user the opportunity to earn some money,'' explained Zeljko Brigljevic, who was the head of MakroMikro for 25 years, engaged in the sale of IT products.

He sold the company to Stublic Impex in Sesvete near Zagreb seven years ago, but while he was its director, the idea of ​​the Macro Converter was born. He said he noticed a growing pile of unusable plastic, toner cartridge cases, ink cartridges - that needed to be disposed of responsibly, and that the disposing of this form of waste cost almost more than buying a brand new product. That's how he came up with the idea of ​​a furnace that wouldn't only solve the problem of properly dealing with plastic waste, but go a step further at a time when renewable energy is an imperative in the world, and he realised everything through the company Makro Gradnja.

''The key advantages are the most favourable type of heating, the removal of plastic from the environment and all this with the possibility of making a profit by producing energy from waste. In short, in winter, everyone has to warm up at home. With the explosion of energy prices, biofuel heating is the safest, leads to long-term self-sustainability and independence, and reduces the risks of rapid increases in energy prices, such as gas. It also provides the opportunity to make money by selling pyrolytic oil. Most importantly, it is useful for the planet in order to reduce the amount of plastic lying around harming the environment,'' explained Zeljko Brigljevic.

The price of one furnace would range between 25 and 35,000 euros, depending on the level of the equipment required, and buyers can expect a return on investment between two and four years, depending on how often pyrolysis is used for heating. The product is suitable for all who have 12 m2 to accommodate the containers with the ovens and storage for the wood chips. It is ideal for farms, households with more buildings or larger houses, greenhouses, small and medium enterprises that have halls, warehouses, institutions, smaller hotels, or in short - all buildings up to 1000 m2.

Zeljko Brigljevic is being assisted in his venture by his son Boris, who, while developing the Macro Converter, graduated from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology and also ''cooked'' the first batch of pyrolytic oil back in 2011 from old toner cartridges. He accepted, as Zeljko Brigljevic himself says, his father's "totally crazy idea", which then matured after the World Expo held in Las Vegas. Along with his son Boris, Brigljevic is especially grateful to the machinist, turner, welder and constructor Vlado and electronics and power engineer Perica.

There is interest in stoves, but they have reduced it to individuals who want energy-efficient solutions and who follow global trends in the need to care for nature.

"They've usually got significantly more good wishes than money, but that's also the case here in Croatia. As for our clients, I see people who are aware of the need for self-sustainability and want smarter solutions in the context of waste management. Our plan is to sign a long-term contract with our customers and buy pyrolytic oil and coal,'' he explained.

They are currently in the phase of presenting the Macro Converter to the domestic market, and by testing the echo corrections, they are preparing for serious clients.

"We can only hope that someone will recognise its potential for the environment, the economy and the population. But our focus will be on markets where there is significant interest in similar products, ie in more developed countries. The plan is to make series of products with the existing company,'' Zeljko noted.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

January the 18th, 2022 - Croatian biologist Martina Markov has decided to leave the safety of her job and enter into the often choppy waters of entrepreneurialism with her Green Stories project.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marta Duic writes, The Green Stories (Zelene price) written by Croatian biologist Martina Markov, PhD, are illustrated educational stories enriched with humorous elements, with their plots located in Croatia's beautiful national parks and nature parks.

These are all stories written with the desire to convey to the youngest readers among us the natural beauty of the nation's protected areas and rich cultural heritage. Finally, the project entitled "The Adventures of Marko the Seagull in the Parks of Croatia" followed, which was supported by the Croatian Tourist Board (CNTB/HTZ).

It all started for Croatian biologist Martina Makov way back in 2008, all because of an injured sea turtle who spent the Easter holidays at the home of Martina Markov on the island of Murter as it got its strength back.

Her son named the turtle Leonardo, which prompted this woman from Sibenik to become a writer and head her profession as a biologist down an educational path - Green Stories. Today, Markov's collection has a dozen picture books, whose heroes are all animal characters.

“It started out as an interesting hobby related to my profession, and became more serious when I decided to leave my safe job as a biologist at the Kornati National Park and throw myself into new challenges and become an entrepreneur. The company Eco Edu Media was founded in March 2021, and my publishing business began back in late 2019, within the family company Motonautika - Luke. The first six titles were published within that company. For now, I'm alone in the company, but I'm contracting the design and illustration, printing and other similar things.

For novice publishers, this tricky situation with the coronavirus pandemic requires a level of caution because there are many limitations, but I believe that the preconditions for hiring new employees will soon be created, so that I can relieve myself a little and focus more on my creative work,'' explained Croatian biologist Martina Markov.

Within The Adventures of Marko the Seagull in the parks of Croatia, a total of ten areas have been covered so far for young readers (children aged 7 to 10) - Telascica, Lake Vrana, Krka, Biokovo, Mljet, Lastovo, the Paklenica islands, Northern Velebit, Ucka and Brijuni. There are ten of them left for this age group, and it's now the turn of Risnjak, which has already been written and will be published by April, and then Plitvice Lakes, which will arrive at the end of June.

The Ministry of Science and Education has given consent for all of Markov's stories to be used within the education system, city/municipal libraries are slowly filling up with them, and Green Stories can now also be ordered through online.

In addition, Croatian biologist Martina Markov revealed, teachers and other educators already use them when working with children and consider them to be very educational. In addition to picture books, she has designed fun puzzles and memory cards with characters from her stories, and Green Stories already exists in English.

"Within the series, I'm also working on the picture story diary of Marko the seagull, which was prepared for older preschoolers and first-graders and which will be published at the end of January. My plans are to cover all of Croatia's ational parks and nature parks, and to adapt the contents to a wide range of age groups.

In addition to the educational aspect of Green Stories, I want to work on some accompanying educational games and other content that will increase the visibility of Marko the Seagull as an ambassador of Croatian parks and of the protection of nature in general,'' concluded Martina Markov.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

January the 17th, 2022 - Queen Cow (Kravica kraljica) is a brand of Croatian milk from Belje which has experienced excellent market success a mere six months of it being launched.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sergej Novosel Vuckovic writes, from the concerning stagnation of the Croatian dairy industry, to the fastest growing brand in the country. The success story of Queen Cow is impressive, with a very happy ending to top it all off at the end of last year. Queen Cow's producer, Belje, according to research by Gfk Hrvatska, achieved exceptional market success only six months after its launch, with the product reaching every fifth household in the country.

Back at the end of pandemic-dominated 2020, the dairy industry in Osijek was saved by Belje, which took over 249 subcontractors, farmers who supplied raw milk. Since then, the company has started from scratch with a new dairy range, and wanted to offer the new brand as an indicator of a new start in the production of 100 percent Croatian milk.

The brand development project, which currently includes 13 different products in 16 packages, has been entrusted to one of the leading integrated marketing agencies in Croatia.

Pro media group and its PR agency Impressum Komunikacije (communications), which, in cooperation with Belje, created a dairy brand different from the previous ones. Most of the milk on the Croatian market doesn't stand out in terms of its image from any other. Why not include the stronger presence of the animal we have to thank for milk? The cow, the animal that provides one of the most basic foods and a pure natural resource. The cow therefore occupies a central place in communication and on the packaging of these Belje Queen Cow products, from milk to yogurt.

Radovan Klaic, the director of Impressum Communications, Ivona Zec, community manager, and Tihana Tojcic, the account director, talked about how the creative process went, creating a completely new brand and visual identity and communication campaign for Queen Cow.

The creative trio from the Pro media group consisted of the main designers in the team, Srdjan Vrdoljak and Boris Poljicanin, as well as the creative director of the group, Igor Skunca.

"We have new products, a whole new line, we're entering a new market segment, we need something to shake the market up and set some new standards in the category…", said Igor Škunca, adding that it was fun to create the entire Queen Cow brand with all its new visuals and packaging, for which he attributes the credit to a great team of collaborators.

“We immediately realised that Belje wants and needs something different for its new dairy brand, something more urban and modern, something a bit more funky, which attracts attention, but with a clear message about the milk having come from real Croatian farms. From real cows. We could see that they required a form of communication that would be different from the usual for the dairy industry. Only with such a story can you make some significant impact in the segment where you need to create a place among strong traditional brands. Feedback from the market shows that together with the team from Belje, we've found the right formula,'' added Klaic.

When asked who came up with the Queen Cow brand name, Vrdoljak said: “Queen Cow was uttered by someone, I don't remember who, they just said it during one of the meetings where the brand was developed, and it resounded like one of those eureka moments where we all nodded our heads. We had to emphasise who she was, with a crown, as she's a queen after all, while the hipster glasses are there so that she can see what all the other cows are doing,'' he said.

Queen Cow is shown differently on each of their products - the cooking cream sees her wearing a chef's hat, the Greek yogurt has her wearing a laurel wreath, the yoghurt pictures here wearing a scarf…. Each is related to the product it represents. Account Director Tihana Tojcic added that the challenge was even greater because today, agencies rarely get such an opportunity to develop brands in the FMCG industry from scratch.

''Given that about three quarters of the market share in the Croatian dairy industry has been held by two big "players" for years, and consumers are increasingly turning to mini dairies and family farms, it really took time to think about what sort of position Belje and Queen Cow would take in such a competitive environment. It was important for us to stand out as much as possible with our packaging design on basically unexciting shelves full of dairy products. That's why the success of this brand is something we're really proud of,'' explained Tojcic.

Ivona Zec, the community manager at Impressum Communications, made sure that the new product got its place on social media through memorable messages. In addition to creating a communication strategy on social media, her role includes copywriting and community management.

“One of the challenges was to find a tone of communication to show that this brand stands out in relation to the competition and, of course, to design visual and textual content that engages the audience. The cows managed to activate their fans as their names were given to them through creative competitions on social media,'' said Ivona.

According to Hrvoje Rados, director of sales and marketing of Belje, Belje has made "maximum efforts to market Queen Cow products in a short time and design a marketing campaign which would be interesting to all categories of customers because these are products we all consume on a daily basis."

The fact that a great job was done was confirmed by Queen Cow's more than good reception on the market, confirmed by the aforementioned GfK research.

Queen Cow almost took the throne in its very first year of existence, and the President of the Board of Belje, Andrej Dean, expressed his satisfaction with the fact that consumers have shown and recognised the brand, because, as he says, Belje guarantees the traceability of all production, from farm to packaging on store shelves. Annually, Belje produces 58 million litres of domestic milk, from more than 7,500 cows across five counties in Slavonia.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

January the 12th, 2022 - The Vodnjan Bursic prosciutto factory has created pancetta crisps (or chips if you're American), the very first of their kind to exist here on the Croatian market.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marta Duic writes, the Vodnjan Bursic prosciutto factory has introduced a new type of cured meat snack into their range, more precisely the Istrian pancetta/bacon crisp. The Vodnjan Bursic prosciutto factory began work back in 1994, when it was called "Kod Milana", and today they have six employees and a location at which they offer dishes based on their own cured meat products.

"The idea to open a prosciuttofactory came when my father Milan stopped working for a large company in Istria that was engaged in its production, it was a large plant producing almost 30,000 pieces of prosciutto a year, which is failing today," recalled Mikela Bursic Lisjak, whose the family started this business.

As she explained, all of the production that goes on at the Vodnjan Bursic prosciutto factory is entirely theirs, and they have prosciutto, pancetta, sausage, zarebnjak and spaletta (front pork leg) and cured meat snacks, more precisely pancetta crisps. According to Bursic Lisjak, at the time of the coronavirus pandemic, when everything was unstable and uncertain, they placed this novelty on the Croatian market.

“We decided to introduce a bit of modernisation into the tradition and we made the first Istrian pancetta crisps. These are actually the first cured meat crisps in Croatia, they're made from bacon, not flavoured potatoes. The sales of our products are moving forward, we're changing and trying to bring the product closer to the customer, while working with the heart of what we do to remain recognisable. The last two years have been difficult, but thanks to various sales channels, our customers have managed to reach their products and us,'' said Bursic Lisjak.

Although their main focus is on the domestic market and on producing top quality meat, and not so much on quantity, they export their products to nearby Austria and to neighbouring Slovenia. As Bursic Lisjak revealed, their plan is to turn to foreign markets in a couple of years, and they have already started negotiations with some of them.

"Our plan is to create a 'boutique' from the Vodnjan Bursic prosciutto factory. Our Italian neighbours have that dose of courage and a sense of beauty, and since I graduated as an interior designer, my goal has been to create something that will have not only good flavours but also beauty. Imagine looking through large windows at the products hanging and drying, you can choose what you want to taste or buy, and you do it all from some comfortable armchair or couch, it would be just like being at home,'' explained Bursic Lisjak.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

January the 11th, 2022 - Move aside Croatian craft beer! The very first Croatian craft tea has come to life through a long family tradition that has been turned into a business. Odores Silentii offers something entirely new to the Croatian market.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marta Duic writes, Odores Silentii is a domestic brand of teas and accessories for serving it, behind which lies a warm family business story. According to Magdalena Sekulic, the first ideas and products were created as hobbies and owing to the personal enjoyment of natural home-made plants and teas back during 2018.

Today, Odores Silentii has gradually developed from a hobby into a family business producing the first Croatian craft tea, and all of their family members are involved in the work. For them, 2021 they say, was a turning point and a year full of development in which they defined clear guidelines for their brand and the way in which they do business. Behind them lies a year of investment, both in terms of material equipment for processing and personalisation, and also when it comes to product development.

Healthy habits...

“Instructed in how to do it all by our grandparents, we collected plants or grew them in our garden, dried them out and enjoyed consuming them. For centuries now, people have collected plants and consumed them through various types of tea drinks, and what grows best in their climate tends to suit them best. The cultivation of medicinal herbs based on the economies of scale and high efficiency has brought tea consumption to an instant level (prepare, consume, move on) and thus dominates the market. Our strategy, however, is different and our products aren't comparable with such a model of tea consumption. We've personally experienced the fact that tea consumption is a healthy habit not only from the aspect of fluid consumption,'' said Magdalena Sekulic, who is behind the Odores Silentii brand making the first Croatian craft tea.

She explained that back at the end of 2020, they teamed up with the family company Bioplanta from Kriz, which grows organic medicinal plants on more than ten hectares of land.

“Odores Silentii deals with hand-picked teas from production in the Bioplant fields. After harvesting and drying out, the teas are hand-picked to separate the ones which are top quality. The amount of manual labour represents the largest share of resources in the entire production chain. This is best illustrated by the example that a kilogram of Odores Silentii tea from lemon balm, chamomile or mint requires two to four hours of manual screening.

All other parts of the production process rely on totally manual work (the processing of sets by grinding and coating), packaging, and at the end - personalisation. From all the above, we believe that Odores Silentii is the first Croatian craft tea offered on the market,'' Sekulic pointed out.

New models

They offer Croatian craft tea packaged in both cans and bags, tea blends with dried organic fruit, personalised gift packages (engraving), wooden chests, gift boxes with teas and accessories and sets for serving, and they're also working on a new collection of special products that combine candles with tea.

"We hope that 2022 will be a new milestone for our business, especially in the development of our sales channels. Our production quantities and the way we personalise our products aren't applicable to traditional retail chains. We have several ideas about alternative ways of accessing the market primarily through social media and creating quality content relying on direct sales and sales models based on so-called ''try and buy'' principles,'' concluded Magdalena Sekulic.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

January the 11th, 2022 - Croatian company teams have impressed some truly global giants in Las Vegas recently. From Amazon to Microsoft and Apple, huge names have shown interest in what these Croatian company teams have to offer.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, the winners of Idea Knockout - Sportreact, Codelab, Iron Bull and Orqa - presented their innovationd at the world's largest Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which took place in Las Vegas for the 55th time from January the 5th to the 8th, 2022.

They were joined by the Croatian startup Zuluhood, which was among the ten most promising startups at this year's CES, highlighting a number of innovations for home security.

For the current winner of Idea Knockout, the startup Sportreact, going to Las Vegas was an opportunity to present itsself to international technology journalists, investors and distributors, and among the potential investors was no less than the global giant Amazon.

Croatian company teams presented their innovative products among 800 startups from around the world that exhibited at Eureka Park, for which more than 3,000 new companies applied. In doing so, they attracted the attention of representatives of technology giants such as Apple and Microsoft.

Croatian innovation in Las Vegas

Sportreact is an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device intended for the development of the motor and cognitive abilities of users, intended for both recreational and professional athletes. It is connected by a mobile application (app) that measures and analyses numerous parametres during the individual's physical training.

Codelab introduced the electronic board game Clockwork Briefcase in Vegas, in which the goal is to deactivate a fake explosive hidden in a suitcase.

Iron Bull is an indie-studio for developing highly-realistic robotic tank models with real-tank operational capabilities, including their launch, plastic missile firing capability, and a system for detecting received missiles and any incurred damage. The tank is equipped with a wide-angle camera and is controlled by two players.

The Osijek startup Orqa developed Orqa FPV, which are goggles for the management of drone races and other professional (industrial and civil) drone applications. They also presented a new model of drone goggles while in the USA, a 5G module and a learning controller on a simulator at CES.

The general sponsorship of Idea Knockout, the largest regional competition of technological ideas organised by the Bug magazine, is part of the long-term strategy of Hrvatski Telekom (Croatian Telecom), which is establishing itself as the largest startup accelerator in all of the Republic of Croatia.

In addition to these five startups and Croatian company teams, two more from the PISMO Business Incubator - Grow and Hiroma Design - exhibited their respective products.

Grow unveiled their smart glasses for the deaf that should make life easier for the 72 million people in the world who suffer with various types of hearing problems, while Hiroma Design developed the Moopies educational app in which children connect with characters and become teachers, not just students, while their time spent in front of the screen is controlled by their parents.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

January the 6th, 2022 - Croatian wellness shots made by the company Green and Organic have been doing very well right here on the domestic market for four years now, and now they're eyeing the world beyond the borders of Croatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marta Duic writes, these Croatian wellness shots, small organic juices designed to boost human immunity, based on fruits and spices, have successfully conquered the domestic market. Behind this project lies a family story, four flavours are on offer, and their products are present across more than 100 outlets throughout Croatia.

“At the same moment in which I was thinking about changing jobs, I decided to leave a secure corporate job and embark on an entrepreneurial venture for the first time. Although it wasn't at all easy at the beginning, we started as a family to produce organic chokeberry juice that we grow in our own fields. Soon after founding my company, I realised that the competition is actually quite high and that it isn't easy at all to stand out in the market. At the time, almost everyone had chokeberry and we struggled a lot until we managed to put our juices on the shelves of the first stores. After a lot of research and thoughts about what to change, we decided to introduce a new product that wasn't yet present on the Croatian market,'' recalled Hermina Skular, the woman behind these Croatian wellness shots.

Only top quality raw materials are used

As she explained, they wanted to make juices with top-quality raw materials, without additives and sugar, which can be drunk by adults and children, and at the same time supply them with vitamins and strengthen their overall immunity.

''Because we love spices ourselves, we decided to make a combination of organic fruit juices with spices. These Croatian wellness shots are small 75 ml juices that literally fit in your pocket and can be taken everywhere with you. The idea was that they could be taken to work, on a trip and be carried along to various sporting activities. First we offered shots with turmeric and ginger, and then we added cinnamon and matcha. Ginger is the most popular, while the children love cinnamon,'' Skular revealed.

Since the beginning of their business story, their focus has been on specialised health food stores and organic products, so it isn't surprising that they are on the shelves of bio & bio and the like, they're also present in cafes and in retail chains such as Konzum.

The wellness shot production itself is located in neighbouring Slovenia, while the chokeberry juice is produced here in Croatia and has its own cultivation, and the rest of the necessary ingredients are procured from abroad.

''If necessary, we cooperate with domestic companies, and we try to work with small enterprises on various projects because we try to stick together and help each other. Given the situation with the coronavirus pandemic, I can say that the past year has been very successful.

We're satisfied with our sales results because it has been shown that our customers, especially now, need something to strengthen their immunity, and that healthy juices are a great choice. Until last year, we offered shots in three flavours - ginger, turmeric and cinnamon, and last year we came out with a new product, a matcha shot,'' noted Skular.

Although their current business is based here in Croatia, they plan to place their products on foreign markets as well. "Since we opened the company, we've been thinking about changes and new products, listening to customer needs and monitoring the market situation. Based on that, we're designing some new flavours. The technologist of the food technology industry has the final say on the exact ''recipe'', and we can suggest a taste. This is one of our favourite parts when designing a new product.

We have a lot of plans, and we hope that some of them will come true in the year ahead. We'll try again to come up with something that is not yet present here on the Croatian market, and we hope that it could be very well accepted by customers,'' concluded Skular.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.