July the 7th, 2022 - Croatian tomatoes are set to hit the market and the shelves boasting a brand new ''proven quality'' (dokazana kvaliteta) label, much like other products have done over the last couple of years.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, after the Ministry of Agriculture passed the Decision on the recognition of the ''proven quality'' label for vegetables, the request for the recognition of the same label was submitted by the Association of Associations of Croatian Vegetable Growers.

The first producers who successfully completed the process of confirming the conformity of tomato production with the ''proven quality'' label for vegetables are Belje plus d.o.o. and Fructus glasshouses d.o.o. and soon it will be possible to buy Croatian tomatoes with this label on the market.

Vegetable producers who use the ''proven quality - Croatia/dokazana kvaliteta - Hrvatska'' label must ensure that these vegetables undergo a production process according to very precisely defined criteria in their specification, which includes care for environmental protection through the responsible use of fertilisers and pesticides, the use of the optimal time of harvesting those vegetables, the length of time spent in transport in order to preserve the nutritional value of the product, and the proper selection of the packaging that protects the vegetables from damage during their storage and transport.

It's worth noting that the first sector that recognised the advantage of this system was the fruit production sector, and the request for recognition of the ''proven quality'' label for fruit was submitted by the Croatian Fruit Association, and from October 2021, apples marked with this label could be bought on the market.

Another sector that has also recognised the advantage of this system is the consumption egg sector, and the request for the recognition of the ''proven quality'' label for consumption eggs was submitted by the Poultry Science Association, and consumption eggs marked with this label have been available for purchase on the market since February 2022.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Made in Croatia section.

July the 3rd, 2022 - A group of Hvar students have been awarded for their creativity in a game designed to work on financial literacy skills by Hanfa (The Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency).

Croatian students from up and down this country certainly pack a punch when it comes to innovation, creativity and coming up with very impressive ideas. With financial literacy being a burning issue among the younger population, these students certainly stand out from the crowd when it comes to money management skills.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, a game called Desitudo created by a group of Hvar students attending the Petar Hektorovic Elementary School on the aforementioned Dalmatian island recently won in a competition called "Financial literacy through play", which was conducted by the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (Hanfa). The school won the prize - a smart board - with the winning game designed by these talented Hvar students.

Elementary schools from across the Republic of Croatia participated in the competition, and eighteen applications were received in total. As part of the competition, upper elementary school students and their mentors had to design a board game with the aim of raising the level of students' financial literacy.

The committee for the evaluation of the works pointed out that the students put in a lot of effort, employed their skills in terms of creativity, but also knowledge, and they are extremely satisfied that financial literacy is being considered from an early age to be extremely important as a skill to develop for life.

The game designed and brought to life by the Hvar students from the aforementioned winning school stood out for its creativity, good examples and learning outcomes. The game primarily helps students to recognide the differences between wants and needs and helps them to manage their money more responsibly.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Made in Croatia section.

June the 28th, 2022 - The Rudjer Boskovic Institute is no stranger to European and international praise and rounds of applause, and with its latest project, there could be a real turnaround on the cards in terms of healthcare provision.

Croatia has been given the opportunity to be a European driver of digital change in healthcare, and the project of the public-private consortium AI4Health "Artificial Intelligence for Smart Health and Medicine" was excellently evaluated by the European Commission (EC) within the Digital Europe programme.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Josipa Ban writes, this means that the project, whose holder and coordinator is the Rudjer Boskovic Institute, along with the help of fifteen other partners, should become the Croatian EDIH (European Digital Innovation Hub).

The signing of the contract with the EC is expected in the third quarter, and it will provide the consortium with a sum of three million euros over the next three years. During that period, says Anja Baresic, the coordinator for partners from the Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Croatia has the opportunity to position itself among the leaders in the transformation of European health systems with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

"Our goal is for at least part of the innovation based on artificial intelligence to come to life within the scope of Croatian healthcare, from which patients, healthcare professionals and innovators will benefit the most," Baresic pointed out.

Four types of service

As she explained, although this country does have a decent number of innovators and startups in the field of healthcare, their AI solutions find it difficult to find their way to the healthcare system itself and really enter into practical application for several reasons. A common challenge is that they have nowhere to test these innovations in the development phase, and there is a real vagueness in terms of legislation regarding the entry of AI solutions into the market, especially in the healthcare sector where the risks are high. That should finally change thanks to this Rudjer Boskovic Institute project.

“In the hub for the application of artificial intelligence in healthcare that we're going to establish, we'll provide four types of services; pre-investment testing, assistance in accessing funding sources, improving skills and knowledge and networking ecosystems,'' explained Baresic. All this will be possible because the consortium consists of actors from all sectors necessary for AI to come to life in practice - science, medicine, industry and the public sector.

According to Nina Sesto, the assistant director of the Magdalena Clinic and the project coordinator for health, this will be the key to the digitalisation of the Croatian healthcare system.

"The biggest shifts occur when different worlds grow closer, that is, when everyone comes and sits at the same table, jointly defines obstacles and also tries to find solutions," she said.

The assistant director of the Clinic, which has had a telecardiology centre for more than twenty years now and monitors patients remotely, says there are some huge obstacles to significant digitalisation and application of AI not only here in Croatia, but all over the world.

“New technologies and tools need to gain the trust of the clinicians who need to use these new digital tools in treating their patients. Maximum transparency and a clear legal framework are needed,'' she stated, adding that Magdalena is also working on developing their own innovation.

In the middle of the global coronavirus pandemic, they launched an impressive virtual clinic, and by the end of the year, the digital assistant Megi, intended for chronic cardiovascular patients, should come to life. In the initial development of Megi, the startup Mindsmiths, the founder of which is Mislav Malenica, who is also the president of CroAI, an association that has been part of the AI4Health consortium from the beginning and which gave Andrija to the Croatian healthcare system in the middle of the pandemic, also participated.

Malenica predicts a bright future for this Rudjer Boskovic Institute project on the basis of which Croatia could become part of the digital revolution. He noted the healthcare sector was not randomly selected.

“When AI started to develop we thought it would contribute to greater equality across all segments of life and in our society, but it ended up making some even bigger differences. We gathered together a team of experts from various fields and realised that healthcare is a sector that lacks digital innovations and that we can be the first to implement something in this area,'' Malenica recalled.

He added that the problems in different healthcare systes around the world are a reality and that there is an obvious need for solutions. Hospital systems are becoming increasingly congested, and this is putting pressure on both staff and hospital costs, not to mention patient waiting times which may well be critical.

The solutions provided by AI, according to Deloitte research, can save about 400,000 lives a year, save about two million man-hours and about 200 billion euros a year.

For more, make sure to check out Made in Croatia.

June the 26th, 2022 - Very well-known Croatian footballer Marcelo Brozovic has entered the often turbulent waters of entrepreneurism with a product that will likely help many athletes and recreationalists.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, over more recent days, the MB77 brand cream called MB77 regenerating cream for joints and muscles with CBD has arrived on the shelves of Zagreb County pharmacies in the Velika Gorica branch, as well as on their webshop.

This is otherwise a brand new product that is an ideal choice to help with muscle recovery after training and it is recommended to massage it into the skin both before and after engaging in physical activities, particularly if they're physically demanding. Applying the cream intensely warms and revitalises the muscles from the surface, while the massage relaxes them and improves circulation and as such offers pain relief.

As a professional athlete, Croatian footballer Marcelo Brozovic is constantly faced with needing to put in a lot of tiring physical effort and owing to that, he's no stranger to products for muscle regeneration, pain relief and relaxation every day. That's why he came up with the idea to contribute to the development of such a product for top athletes by creating his own brand, MB77, which he did in collaboration with Kirocorps.

“When choosing the products I use, the most important thing for me is that they're natural, safe to use and of course - that they work. That's why I decided on this business move because there was a lack of such products on the market. This product is intended for top athletes, recreational athletes, but also for all those who have to deal with various joint and muscle pains,'' said Croatian footballer Marcelo Brozovic.

This is just the first product he has decided to introduce and he has added that he will continue to develop new ones until the end of the year. Brozovic presented the new cream in cooperation with the company Kirocorps, which deals with treatments for regeneration and recovery, both for professional athletes and recreational athletes, and they also deal with facial and body care treatments, and will use this cream on them.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

June the 24th, 2022 - The wildly popular and very successful Croatian franchise Surf'n'Fries has become part of the offer of football matches in the United Kingdom, where the spotlight on the franchise will be shone in the brightest way imaginable.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, yet another great success under the belts of Andrija Colak and Denis Polic and their Croatian franchise Surf'n'Fries is that they have become part of the offer at football matches in Great Britain, Novi list reports.

After a two-year break caused by the global coronavirus pandemic, fan zones at football statiums are opening up once again this season, in which, three hours before the start of the match, fans come together.

“After two years of waiting for it, the day has finally come, we've entered the fan zone of the British second division West Bromwich Albion! It's worth mentioning that this is a contract we signed two years ago with the Rapid Retail franchisee from the United Kingdom, which works at all major stadiums in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and France.

After the signing of the contract, unfortunately the coronavirus pandemic started, literally everything came to a halt, and we had to be very patient as well as Rapid Retail which had already made an investment in the facilities and kitchens. Basically, we managed to wait and now things are opening up once again. We hope that coming to the WBA will also be an incentive for other stadiums,'' said Colak.

The Croatian franchise Surf’n’Fries will premiere alongside two bars in the fan zone of the WBA, a club founded way back in 1878, in a competition considered the toughest league in the entire world. The WBA has a capacity of 26,000 seats, most of which are sold out through a set of annual tickets.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Made in Croatia section.

June the 24th, 2022 - Croatian-made parts can be found in almost all of today's most sought-after unmanned systems, which is excellent news for the industry and for the further positioning of Croatia on this much more technical map.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, following the end of the period of European demilitarisation which lasted for decades, weapons are now being bought intensively, even in countries that have been neutral for a long time, as reported by HRT. Is this an opportunity for the Croatian military industry, which is on the rise and which exports almost 100 million euros of weapons and equipment? Some believe so.

"First we broke the paradigms, that involved the following question: is it possible for Croatian industry to compete in this way using European Union funds? We proved this back in 2016 with 550 million in grants withdrawn by our industry for new developments, products and services that came as global surprises. Now we have a much bigger intervention and I must say that Europe has copied us a little because we've proven that modern industry is potent and can boost the competitiveness of entire industrial sectors very well,'' said Goran Basarac, president of the Croatian Defense Industry Cluster.

He added that a mechanism called the European Defense Fund, amounting to 7.9 billion euros in total, had been created. It is primarily intended for research and development, but it is evident that certain product capacities will also be created. Croatian-made products of this nature could end up being more and more frequently placed on the market.

"The Croatian defense industry has an opportunity here. We have something to show off on the global market,'' he emphasised.

Ivan Jelusic, director of Orqa, believes that the key moment happened in 2020 in Nagorno-Karabakh, when Azerbaijan won a military operation using armed unmanned systems produced in Turkey.

"The war in Ukraine will significantly affect the doctrine and use of unmanned systems in military operations," he said.

He added that since they started developing their company, they have focused on the production of authentically produced components and components for manned systems in Croatia. As he explained, it is considered extremely important in military operations that the components are from verifiable suppliers.

"Due to a combination of circumstances, our company positioned itself six years ago," he concluded.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Made in Croatia section.

June the 21st, 2022 - Art Caffe, an initiative of Unimedia owner Nikola Mihaljevic and former Dubrovnik Summer Festival director and war veteran Miso Mihocevic, aims to shine the spotlight on those involved in the Croatian arts scene through a series of interviews.

Anyone who has spent any time whatsoever in Croatia can see that this country is awash with culture and arts. From theatre to painting, and from painting to sculpting, and then again from sculpting to acting, singing and the world of performance - this small country packs a punch. 

What better way to get to know the names and faces behind some of Croatia's arts scene than through a series of personal and light interviews held in the perfect surroundings and ambiance of the Croatian National Theatre (HNK) in the heart of Zagreb?

The initial idea for the Art Caffe concept came from Nikola Mihaljevic and his Unimedia Studio, who was inspired by the permanent need to talk about arts and culture, to point out just what this country has to offer in that regard - which is abundant. While the galleries and the performances themselves are well known, much less is known about those who stand behind them, the artists, singers, actors, their assistants, their education and professions. Their lives.

Art Caffe's overall concept is to present those individuals and their work, their slot in the rich world of art, their inspirations, artistic and life philosophies, struggles and achievements. The idea was enhanced and its materialisation accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, when artists, especially those who freelance, had their entire existence seriously called into question in a manner that could never have been predicted.

ArtCaffe was offered as a chance to give them opportunity, a voice, for better visibility in the country's collective consciousness. 45 minutes offers time enough for one person to say a lot, indeed - the opportunity very few people are lucky enough to have, but one each person involved in Croatian arts deserves.

''The title is descriptive in its own merit - sitting in a cafe and talking about arts. It's as simple as that,'' explained Art Caffe's anchor, Miso Mihocevic, who has spent all his life in both arts, and in cafes.

''I'm a big fan of talk shows (if done well and without pretensions), I've watched thousands over the years. By watching them, I was involuntarily learning and preparing for something I never thought I'd do. When I was offered to anchor Art Caffe, I was slightly anxious and had lots of questions roaming in my mind, however, I knew I was ready. To try, I mean. It turned out pretty well from the start, which encouraged me and made me want to talk more and more with those lurking behind the scenes.

Art Caffe is simple as a format, and so am I as its anchor - there are no pre-prepared questions. Questions must arise from the conversation, in order to get something logical, smooth and easy going. My preparation is simple as well - God bless Google for some general (or even detailed) information, and a chat before the shooting.

The rest, as said, comes out of the conversation, the questions I ask are inspired by the interlocutor and nothing else. There are no agendas. I therefore see Art Caffe as a conversation, not as an interview. With that warm feeling of giving a chance to people to introduce themselves by saying precisely what they, and not what you, want.

In this world obsessed with the pandemic, the war, the economy and oil prices, an artist can hardly make the news through any contact with the public, and to an audience without whom the arts make no sense whatsoever.

If you understand Croatian, you can follow Art Caffe on YouTube by clicking here.

June the 21st, 2022 - The Croatian company ReversingLabs has won a prestigious award across the pond in San Francisco.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Croatian technology companies have popped up more and more recently and they are only continuing to succeed. The latest in a series is the Global InfoSec Award won by the Croatian company ReversingLabs, which is a real leader in software supply chain security development.

The Croatian company ReversingLabs received the award for the best product in the field of application security at the RSA 2022 conference held recently in San Francisco, specifically for their product called secure.software, a solution to protect the process of the continuous delivery of both containers and software packages.

“We're honoured to be able to receive this prestigious Cyber ​​Security Award and be recognised by top judges. Threats in the supply chain and problems with unauthorised software changes continue to plague companies. Despite growing awareness, many people are still unsure how to respond to these threats. Through our secure.software solution, we provide companies with ease and security regarding all versions of software they deliver,'' said Mario Vuksan, the co-founder and CEO of the Croatian company ReversingLabs.

This is not the only award this successful company, which built the world's largest malware database through a development centre right here in the City of Zagreb, has won this year. There are a few more on the list that have won in the area of ​​software security assurance.

This, the latest award for another Croatian company, is more than enough to provide yet another spring in the steps of many of the enterprises in this country which are gaining international recognition and as such placing this country on the tech and startup map.

For more on Croatian companies, entrepreneurs, innovations and more, make sure to check out our dedicated Made in Croatia section.

June the 21st, 2022 - Every plane produced over the next 20 years will boast FACC Jakovlje plant parts from the recently opened plant just outside of Zagreb.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, over the next 20 years, 40,000 new aircraft will be produced worldwide, and in each of them there will be parts from the new factory of the Austrian-Chinese aerospace industry Fischer Advanced Composite Components (FACC), which opened on Friday in Jakovlje near Zagreb.

As Robert Machtlinger, Director of the FACC Group, explained, this is an investment of 15 million euros that will significantly increase the importance of the FACC on the global market.

Representatives of 42 nations

"When we started 30 years ago as a small company in Austria with 35 enthusiasts who started developing composite materials, we dreamed of becoming what we are now - a corporation with 3,000 people in 13 countries and last year's revenue of half a billion euros.

We currently have 170 aeronautical experts in the FACC Jakovlje plant factory in Croatia, by the end of the year there will be 250 of them, and in the next three years, there will be more than 700. With this latest opening, we now have a total of 15 factories across the world where people from 42 nations work, which shows how much of a multicultural environment we cultivate, and we're one that operates globally,'' Machtlinger said.

He added that their customers are from all over the world, and most companies come from the EU, China, India, the USA and Canada. Before the coronavirus crisis, which hit the entire aviation industry sector extremely hard, the company reached 750 million euros in revenue, and Machtlinger announces that they don't intend to stop with this factory in Jakovlje, but continue to look at expanding their business and operations.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who attended the ceremonial opening and launch of the FACC Jakovlje plant, pointed out that this is an example of what every investment in Croatia should look like.

“The first contacts with FACC were established back in 2017, and shortly thereafter, many institutions, public and private on all sides, made a number of decisions. We're now witnessing the successful finalisation of this 15m-euro project and the creation of 700 new jobs,'' Plenkovic said.

He added that, in a conversation with FACC's leaders, he learned that they considered the location for this new factory in places in about 10 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, mostly EU member states, but Ukraine and Serbia were also in the game.

"Their assessment that Croatia was the best candidate, both for security, connectivity, EU integration and a reliable and secure way forward, has now proved prophetic because we are on the threshold of the Eurozone and of Schengen,'' stated Prime Minister Plenkovic.

Great potential

The new Jakovlje FACC plant, as they pointed out from the company itself, was designed in close cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute. The goal, they say, was to build the factory according to the most modern aspects of industrial production.

The possibility of a modular upgrade of this new FACC Jakovlje plant, integrated into the existing structure, was a fundamental prerequisite in its interior design. During the official opening of the factory on Friday, the next step in its expansion was announced. In the second and third phases, the area of ​​the factory will triple, and this project will start immediately.

The FACC pointed out that the space for the development of the aerospace industry is huge and has so far been used only partially. This is supported by the fact that currently there are almost eight billion people in the world, and by 2050 the global population will increase to 10 billion.

According to current estimates, as many as 80 percent of the world's population has never flown, so it's clear that this will change in the coming period and there will be high demand for aviation technology, especially in Southeast Asia where air passenger growth is already most pronounced.

For more, make sure to check out Made in Croatia.

June the 19th, 2022 - Trattoria la Pentola in the beautiful Istrian town of Rabac has found itself ranked among the world's absolute best, winning the Travelers' Choice 2021 international award.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Valamar Riviera's restaurant, Trattoria La Pentola in Rabac, has won the Travelers’ Choice 2021 international award, making it one of the ten percent of the world’s best restaurants on TripAdvisor. This new award will not only see this restaurant and Valamar gain more attention, but will further position the gorgeous Istrian peninsula high on the list for would-be tourists.

Users of the world's leading travel and tourism quality assessment portal, TripAdvisor, have recognised the value of Trattoria la Pentola in Rabac, awarding it this sought-after title based on the continuous excellent reviews it has always received from the global travel community.

“Our specialised and carefully designed offer can satisfy every guest, from those looking for a light snack or bruschetta accompanied by a glass of quality wine, to those with slightly higher gastronomic aspirations. At Trattoria La Pentola, we offer daily Mediterranean dishes prepared with ingredients sourced from local family farms (OPGs) in which the stamp of Italian cuisine can be clearly felt.

We also offer our guests hand-made homemade pasta, excellent pizzas, and barbecue dishes, homemade burgers, fish specialties and a selection of craft beers and local wines are available,'' said Dario Kinkela, the director of the food and beverage sector at Valamar Riviera.

It's worth mentioning that Rabac's award-winning Trattoria La Pentola is part of Valamar's famous modern gastronomic concept which, in Rabac together with Craft beer & grill and The Beat beach club, combines traditional recipes and modern cuisine, which raises the gastronomic offer of Rabac and its surroundings to a much higher level.

For more on local acheivements from all sectors, make sure to check out our dedicated Made in Croatia section.