The innovative Croatian Plate project is primarily based on molecular gastronomy, and only foods from Croatian OPGs are used.
As Ivan Tominac/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 29th of August, 2019, a great many culinary connoisseurs have said that a true chef has undying persistence and a constant desire to learn more and more, and the young Croatian chef in this story is not only persistent and eager to learn, but also boasts an enviable entrepreneurial streak.
Although only twenty years old, Dino Popović has already managed to become a chef and launch his own gastronomic project. As he notes, he always knew that cooking was his calling, and when he was a kid, he liked to make ''incompatible'' foods and put them together on a plate. He started his culinary career immediately after graduating from the Hotel Palace and successfully conceived the concept of presenting traditional Croatian dishes with a modern twist, starting a food festival with his own signature.
"I recently became the head of the kitchen of the SOI Fusion Restaurant, and it's a great honour for me, seeing as I'm only twenty years old. The responsibility is much greater, from the supply of groceries to everything functioning properly," Dino Popović said, stating that his job as a chef is what he truly loves, and as the only flaw in working in a place like this one he works, is that there are no opening hours. Just working in the kitchen never satisfied all his affinities, and it was out of a desire to present something new to people that he decided to launch the Croatian Plate project.
As he explained, the idea was born overnight, and was conceived as a secret dinner concept with traditional cuisine prepared in an unusual way. "It allowed me to understand how Croats are afraid to step out of some of their old ways and try out some more new flavours," Popović said.
The Croatian Plate project was initially launched with a primary focus on molecular gastronomy. It is a blend of natural sciences and culinary arts, and the choice of this young chef was to present traditional foods with a modern twist. In the field of molecular gastronomy, chemical ingredients such as alginate and calcium, as well as processes such as ice filtration for some types of soups and liquids, are frequently used.
As he noted, in the beginnings of his Croatian Plate project, he realised that Croats didn't particularly like to leave their comfort zones (a habit which stretches much further afield than food and eating), so this year, as a result of his desire to have his culinary ideas presented to a wider audience, a new idea from the Croatian Plate project emerged.
This young Croatian chef launched a small food festival that bears the brand name Hrvatski Pjat (Croatian Plate). Unlike the concept of secret dinners where he used molecular gastronomy, he decided to present traditional foods in the form of fusion cuisine. Dino finished high school in Vrbovec, and returned there to present his new idea. The first Croatian Plate food festival was presented as part of the traditional summer event ''Kaj su jeli naši stari'' (What our elders ate).
It is an event that gathers tens of thousands of visitors each year, which is precisely what proved to be a good choice for this ambitious young chef.
"At the first Croatian Plate Festival, about 15,000 people tasted our food in just three days," Popović said. This talented young chef believes that it is important to support local producers and farms, so through collaborations and sponsorships, he seeks to reach foods that are locally produced.
With an emphasis on staying local and keeping traditions alive, he and his team presented this year's offer at the Croatian Plate Festival, offering burgers and sausages made from black Slavonian pigs, duck with mlinci and modern versions of other old, traditional dishes. As Popović stated, in the meantime, he wants to devote himself to promoting food through PR.
Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and Made in Croatia pages for much more.
As Novac/Matea Grbac writes on the 26th of August, 2019, a group of Franciscan monks have decided to dip their feet into the increasingly popular world of craft beer in Zagreb, and their income isn't going to be wasted selflessly...
''Back during my stay as a student in Germany I dreamed of producing monastery beer. It was a long time before I received 95 percent approval from my brothers for this venture,'' remembers the friar of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Zagreb, Tomislav Glavnik, who was behind the idea of one of the first monastery craft beers in Croatia - S.anto.
Although the production of this beer by the Franciscans is not unusual in itself, as example some of the world's best craft beers come from Belgian monasteries, this practice is still extremely foreign to Croatia.
About three months ago, Tomislav Glavnik and his brothers presented their new beer to the public, namely on the St. Anthony of Padua holiday. During its initial presentation, he revealed that they wanted to create another added value to their one hundred-year-old monastery, and decided to start a separate company for the purpose of no less than beer commercialisation.
''We want to be an example to others, to do everything transparently and in accordance with the law. Like any other limited liability company, we regularly pay all state and tax levies,'' he pointed out.
This is not the only business that these Franciscans have. Within their home, they grow grapes from which they produce wine for their own use. In addition, there is a small garden, the fruits of which are served in the public kitchen, while the attic of the same building was transformed into rooms for students from less wealthy backgrounds.
''We have a lot of things here, we hope to build a dormitory consisting of about sixty rooms soon. We want to direct the beer sales income to our public kitchen, but also to students and student scholarships,'' he added.
As he explained to Novac, their goal was never to make a profit. Although the beer is currently being produced and bottled by one craft brewery in the Zagreb area, they plan to start their own plant in a couple of years or so, which will employ several staff members who will be dedicated to the further development of the project, with the close supervision of the monastery, of course.
Although their new job is only in its very infancy and they have produced only 12,600 litres of beer so far, Fr. Glavnik adds with a smirk that their accountant has already told them that they are pretty good entrepreneurs because they are already at zero.
S.anto beer, which is described as good, drinkable, but nothing special, is intended for everyone, and is for the time being only sold in their parish in 0.3 bottles at a price of 14 kuna. In a few days, they will start expanding their market, so that their product can be found in one of Split's bars, as well as in Novalja and in Šibenik.
First of all, they want to set up their own shop where the business of selling beer and glasses with the beer's logo.
''For centuries, friars around the world have been producing wine, beer, cheese, honey and many other products, I see no reason why we can't do the same here in Croatia,'' he concluded.
Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia page for much more.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of August, 2019, the Samobor-based company Nord produkt is set to open up its tenth retail store in the country on Monday (August the 26th) - the Nord Store at the Ambienta department store in Novi Zagreb. It will be the largest Nord store to date.
This domestic company is the largest Croatian manufacturer of faucets, one of the leading manufacturers of kitchen and bathroom furniture, and they combined their almost thirty years of experience into a far more complex product - mobile homes and villas, sold under the name Nord, which are totally unique Croatian products.
So far, Nord has produced 2,000 mobile homes spread across a range of high-end camps across the Republic of Croatia and abroad. This has seen the Samobor company take a very respectable place among the international manufacturers of these increasingly popular holiday homes, and they are by far the largest in Croatia. The brand new Novi Zagreb store aims to showcase all the possibilities Samobor's Nord has in its modern manufacturing facilities.
''Nord already has a distinctive design style that we develop along with reputable Croatian designers. Across 530 square metres, we'll show you how we can produce high quality, eye-catching Croatian furniture for kitchens and bathrooms, and we're especially proud of our taps that we produce under three brands - Schmidler, Armal and Nord. These taps have a warranty of up to ten years, making us unique on the market. We also offer toilets, showers, bathtubs, haberdashery and tiles from renowned manufacturers,'' said Anita Kuharić of Nord.
Krešimir Hazler, managing director of Samobor's Nord produkt, announced that the next step in the development of the company is to improve each division by at least one class.
"We're completing the process of regrouping within the company and the goal is to be more efficient and faster on the market. We're the largest manufacturers of faucets and have further consolidated this by purchasing the renowned Armal brand; in the production of mobile homes and villas in Croatia we are unrivaled, and now we want to achieve this in the production of kitchens,'' stated Hazler.
Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marta Duic writes on the 19th of August, 2019, the Croatian company Sana Delicatessen, based in the continental town of Koprivnica, has launched a brand new product this summer - Magic, which is presented as the only fresh gluten-free dairy dessert on the Croatian market. Although it is best known for hummus, the company also has other trump cards that are winning over buyers even outside of the Croatian market.
"Over the last five years of doing business, we've noticed that more and more parents are choosing desserts and sweets more carefully for their children. Gluten-free products are increasingly popular, which is often unfortunately a necessity (for those with celiac disease) and so we prepared Magic with this idea in mind. Sana Magic sticks come in several flavours, with raspberry pieces, apricot and cocoa and hazelnut, and the first reactions from the market are positive and above our expectations. We're always moving step by step, and so we started with the Croatian market first, and then we're planning to export,'' said Silvija Repić, the director of this Croatian company.
From the very first eight products in the range, they have reached almost 150 products today. According to Repić, Sana is still the most well known for its Sana Hummus spreads, and this subcategory is expanding and becoming interesting to other companies from Croatia and from abroad. She noted that other products, such as Sana's premium spices for HoReCa customers, apple chips with chocolate, tahini, ketchup are soon to be developed properly. Sana's team currently boasts eleven permanent employees.
"New products, a higher number of customers (especially in the HoReCa channel), more delivery points and exports are intensifying the business and requiring job creation. We're also planning to further increase our staff and the pace of that will be determined by our further business success. This year, we've hired one person and we plan another one by the end of the year,'' Repić explained, pointing out that they are intensively seeking new export opportunities to other markets in the region and beyond.
"Sana Hummus is a leader on the Croatian market, and with growth in Slovenia and new products, we have achieved business growth rates of around 30 percent.
Slovenia is still our largest export market with chocolate chips and Hummus spreads and new spreads like Guacamole, MelanSana and Thai Salsa. Since the beginning of the year, we started exporting to Switzerland with a new product under the Bonmahl brand - a mixture of cereals and spices which is a kind of 'superfood'. The sales volume of Bonmahl in Switzerland far exceeds that in Croatia, but when it comes to the development of the Croatian market, we're just getting started,'' Repić noted.
This Croatian company works with almost all major retail and hotel chains, and have found their way to specialised stores.
"Entering new products into the HoReCa sales channel is different, the chefs are usually curious and interested in new products, but HoReCa requires a lot of time, investment and personal access to every customer," Repić explained.
She also pointed out that a small business like Sana must take extreme care of its profitability.
"Continuous investment in new products, markets and employees has resulted in increased sales and increased brand awareness, and each investment has a positive impact on the business," Repić concluded proudly.
Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for more information on Croatian companies, products and services.
More incredible international recognition for Croatian innovation as Zagreb innovators have won no less than the world's most prestigious accolades for their coastal protection system.
As Sergej Novosel Vuckovic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 17th of August, 2019, the talented Croatian innovators won the bronze medal at the 47th International Innovation Exhibition (GInventions) in Geneva back in April, recognition as the overall winner (Grand Prix) at the 11th International Agro Heart Innovation Fair in Agriculture, Food Processing and Agricultural Machinery at the end of the same month in Karlovac, and then, as the crown of this already glittering series, the Croatian innovators managed to take home the Gold Medal at the 2nd Silicon Valley International Invention Festival (SVIIF) in Santa Clara, California, USA.
Their invention, the Wave breaker (Razbijač valova), created by Frane Pokrajčić and his son Tomislav from Zagreb did exceptionally well at the aforementioned events, breaking (quite literally) their competition from all over the world and impressing visitors, entrepreneurs and potential investors along the way. This was especially the case at the last exhibition in Silicon Valley, the epicentre of today's technological ''brain''. And, as is usually the case, the invention came about by accident.
"Just watching on TV how waves destroy coastlines and cafes by the sea in Split and Dubrovnik, my dad came to the realisation that, based on the current flood defense system, ie, the tube, he could apply an innovation in the defense against waves," stated Tomislav Pokrajčić, the director of the Croatian company Jel-Tom.
Tomislav's father is a well-educated engineer in chemistry. Several years ago, back when he was the owner of the company Majo Commerce, he developed a kind of plastic tubing, which when filled with water, protect the coastline and any of the facilities on it against flooding. He developed the tubes alongside Tomislav Petrić from the company Corus. These tubes proved their worth and highlighted their efficiency for the floods that took place in Hrvatska Kostajnica back in March 2018, and then a little later on in Požega.
A wave breaker could of course be just as effective, if not more so, mostly in the Adriatic sea, where certain types of storms can be absolutely devastating to the coastline. In addition, this Croatian invention can easily be used anywhere in ports and marinas around the world.
"As the name implies, it protects the coastline against waves by reducing their impact by 50 percent, collecting any waste and debris, generating kinetic energy under the sea, and protecting the coast from erosion, ie, decay," explains Frane's son Tomislav in a small plant in the Samobor industrial zone, in a space rented from Končar. The wave breaker, therefore, has an impressive fourfold effect.
According to Pokrajčić, about 100,000 kuna has been invested into the system's creation and innovation so far, and as they say, these funds were obtained from European Union sources, and, as awareness of its value grew, the innovation was patented in as many as 159 countries around the world.
The ''wave'' of this year's medals raises hope for this Croatian product's potential commercial success.
"The awards mean a lot to us, because they confirm that the product is of high quality and is efficient both at a European and at a global level, and can be a proof to investors who will invest in our innovative product," said Pokrajčić proudly.
He also detailed his observations from the presentation of his creation over in America, noting that people there told him that "it's unbelievable that a small country like Croatia has a solution to the huge problems and damage that waves cause, and that also produces energy."
These Croatian innovators are also proud of the letter they received from the President of the Republic of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, after their appearance at SVIIF in California.
"She told us that she wanted our success to be an inspiration to all innovators and strengthen their perseverance in their work," Tomislav Pokrajčić stated.
Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for more information on Croatian innovation, Croatian products and services, and much more.
Croatian innovation is well known across the world as some of the best. In an ironic twist of fate, Croatia continues to export its brightest minds abroad, allowing them to realise their ideas in countries which recognise the need for less draconian laws, Croatian products which have been made in Croatia continue to receive awards and gain recognition around the globe.
As Lara Bagar/Glas Istre writes on the 14th of August, 2019, as many as eighteen projects were awarded, and Croatian lighting designer Dean Skira's project was the only one awarded in the category of energy efficiency and environmental protection.
Otherwise, Moscow's "Evolution Tower", for which this extremely talented designer from the Istrian city of Pula designed the beautiful lighting, is a project realised for Transneft, Russia's largest oil company in the world.
Another prestigious award has thus arrived in the light incubator of the Pula designer Dean Skira. The lighting design of the magnificent Evolution Tower in Moscow, designed by Dean Skira and his team, won the prestigious IES Award of Excellence for outstanding contribution to the development of science and art in the field of light design.
The award ceremony took place during the 46th Annual Conference of the International Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), this time in Louisville, USA. Special honours were awarded across various categories for a mere eighteen of the international projects out of 200 selected.
As stated, this talented Croatian designer's project was the only one of all to have been awarded in the category of energy efficiency and environmental protection.
"We're proud to contribute to the promotion of our homeland and in such a specialised segment as is lighting design in architecture," stated Skira's innovative team.
Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia page for much more on Croatian innovation, Croatian design, Croatian products, services, and much more.
As Lucija Spiljak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 13th of August, 2019, after CRANE invested 100,000 euros in them, the young Croatian team got a spring in their step and and created a game that has become a worldwide hit. The director has announced the completion of the game this year.
Last November, eleven members of the Croatian Business Angels Network - CRANE, invested 100,000 euros into a gaming studio and startup called Hyperion Studio from Jastrebarsko, which released the computer survival game ''Journey of Life''.
Not even one year later, this Croatian game found itself on Steam's list of the world's top 250 bestsellers. This is a great success not only for Hyperion and the game itself, which is not even finished yet, but also for the Croatian gaming scene as a whole.
"The players have recognised the potential tjhe game has and we'd like to thank them for that. We're working to improve it each day, and feedback is extremely important to us during this period," said Adriano Žeželić, Hyperion Studios' director and the conceptual founder of the game.
CRANE supported Hyperion with the aim of encouraging the Croatian gaming industry and the development of the Journey of Life game, and as Žeželić said, they were given a a spring in their step, mentorship, and financial support when it was needed most. It's now on this young Croatian team to justify the confidence of those who have invested and complete the game by the end of the year.
"The collaboration has been extraordinary from day one and I can say that I'm extremely pleased. It took us a while to adjust to all the circumstances, but without their support we wouldn't have gotten into the situation we are in today.The investment we received allowed us to bring the game to the level of competitiveness and successful results. We also agreed with CRANE that the company needs to expand and work on other products,'' the conceptual founder revealed.
This Croatian startup has three people in charge of the game's development and one public relations person, but, as the young director reveals, they plan to hire another developer so they can be even more productive when it eventually expands, which is planned. Otherwise, this unique survival game takes place on an island in the Pacific where the main character has to build basic tools and components for survival out in the wilderness, learn to hunt, and manage life in a dangerous environment.
This Croatian game is currently only available for PCs, but Hyperion Studios has announced that it is preparing mobile travel versions of the game, which will be available in the second half of this year. All of the income, as they pointed out at Hyperion, is being returned back to the company for the best possible game development. "So far, about 12,000 units have been sold, with 2,500 units sold during the first seven days of August. Our goal is to finish the game, followed by a major promotion that should bring significant results," Žeželić explained.
The team received significant support from players and users from around the world, and the game, according to its co-author, has been sold in more than eighty countries worldwide.
"The biggest interest in the game comes from North America and Germany, and in Europe we have sold at least one copy in all countries except Macedonia. All of our resources and our main focus are currently on Journey of Life, so we don't plan on embarking on a new story before this one arrives to its Beta version,'' concluded Adriano Žeželić.
Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia page for much more on Croatian innovation.
Imagine being thoughtless enough to be able to steal a state of the art Greyp bike belonging to Mate Rimac's company and actually think you'd gotten away with it?
There are thieves, and then there are thieves. There are two categories of thief, one category is for the likes of the great train robber, and for those who find genius ways of getting into cash machines to remove the contents. The other category is reserved for petty thieves who leave their fingerprints everywhere and decide to commit their crime of choice under the watchful eye of Big Brother.
It seems that a thief of the latter category decided to have a go at stealing one of Rimac's famous Greyp bicycles, apparently entirely unaware that the vehicles are equipped with not only a GPS system, but with cameras, too.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 12th of August, 2019, Mate Rimac's creation, the Grejp bike, is equipped with GPS and cameras.
''We knew exactly where it was, we even watched a police officer come for him,'' wrote Mate Rimac on his Facebook account, likely amused by the lack of thought involved in this clearly not very seasoned thief's mind.
''The moral of the story: Don't mess with Greyp Bikes,'' Rimac wrote on Facebook, as 24sata reported.
Croatia's top entrepreneur Mate Rimac posted on Facebook that they found the Greyp bike belonging to his company that was stolen a few months ago in Germany.
The Greyp Bikes' bicycle was stolen by a thieves at event in over Germany and they have now been identified and apprehended thanks to the modern technology this Croatian bike boasts.
''The thief stole the G6 at one of the first events we presented it at (in Germany). Now, a few months later, the bike was online again for the first time. Being equipped with GPS and cameras, we knew exactly where it was. We even watched a police officer come for him. The moral of the story: Don't mess with Greyp Bikes,'' Mate Rimac wrote.
Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and Made in Croatia pages for more information on Croatian companies, entrepreneurs, products and services.
As Novac writes on the 10th of August, 2019, one of the oldest Croatian companies, Čakovec's Čateks, has contracted a deal worth up to three million euros with the Slovenian Ministry of Defence. This is a Croatian textile company that produces specialised high quality fabrics for both the medical and military industries.
''What this is, is a special NYCO Cordura fabric (nylon/cotton), which is specific owing to its exceptional strength and wear resistance,'' Davor Sabolić, director of Čateks, explained to novo.hr. The material it is made from also reduces the damage incurred by flames.
This type of fabric, he said, is increasingly recognisable across Europe, with Croatian Čateks being its largest European manufacturer of all. This is mostly explained by the fact that in addition to equipping the Slovenian army, this Croatian company also equips the armies of Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Montenegro and Kuwait, and develops projects for the army, special units and the police in the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, the Netherlands, Estonia, Italy and for the Nordic countries.
However, this company's longest-running and strongest business cooperation is with the Ministry of Defense, and it started way back in 1991.
''If there were no such cooperation and these jobs, as well as the jobs of equipping the Croatian police, we wouldn't be able to carry out any of these jobs for the international units, since for each international tender we had to have done at least one in the same sense as before,'' said Sabolić, adding that nobody can claim to be the best if they didn't "do the job" at home, too.
Considering that this Croatian company is doing such successful business, it is logical that it is also preparing for a big investment cycle. In the next five years, Čateks will invest between 30 million kuna and 50 million kuna in the modernisation of its textile plant, and their aim is, as they themselves say, to better position themselves in the ''Defend'' program.
''That is a program in which we can offer a complete solution, from the production of combat uniforms, ie, pants, shirts and jackets, to the production of waterproof and windproof jackets, overcoats, raincoats, to various accessories made from special materials,'' explained the director.
In addition to Defend, Čateks is still developing its medical program in the segment of mattress covers with special properties.
Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more on Croatian companies, products and services.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sergej Novosel Vuckovic writes on the 5th of August, 2019, in the height of the tourist season, more specifically in mid-July, in the small Petrijanec municipality just north of Varaždin County and on the border with Medjimurje (Croatia) and neighbouring Slovenia, two young men decided to open a facility to produce filaments for 3D (three-dimensional) printers. They are the only ones to do so in all of Croatia.
Valentino Jovan and David Lukaček are both 28 years of age and are good friends, the first of the two is an expert in mechanical engineering, and the second graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, and has years of experience in manufacturing electrical companies and mechanical engineering companies under his belt.
Encouraged, as they stated, by the lack of certain products and services and the desire to develop their own original solutions here in Croatia, they founded the company last June, called DiV Plastic (the pair's initials) and set off down that proverbial road.
"The best feeling is when we create something new of value while trying to contribute to our community," Valentino Jovan, one of two CEOs and business partners, told Poslovni Dnevnik. David Lukaček even returned to Croatia from living over in Germany to start the project and took all of that responsibility and risk with him.
There are four employees in this company from Northern Croatia in total, and they make filaments, which is their main, however not their only activity.
"The filaments are actually ''ink'' for 3D printers. It's a plastic wire that is made from several types of material depending on the properties you want ,and in many different colours, they come in various variations, we initially turned to the production of filaments, which are technical materials, but we also have another nine materials available to us in cooperation with our partners from Slovenia. By the end of the year, we plan to expand the production of filaments to three more materials,'' explained Jovan.
DiV Plastic, therefore, is developing and applying new technologies in the growing 3D printing segment, with the goal of doing the same by recycling waste plastics.
''The filaments we manufacture are from original new plastics. In terms of recycling, we've reoriented our products mainly for agricultural applications, and we plan to convert a lot of recycled plastics that would end up in landfills into usable products. Our goals are to process a minimum of 5-7 tonnes of recycled plastic per year, hopefully by the end of 2020,'' Jovan points out.
An important question remains, given the fact that this company from the north of Croatia is the only one in the whole of Croatia to engage in this type of business - Just what is the market for that type of printing like in Croatia?
''At the very beginning, I started 3D printing three years ago when there were only a few dozen 3D printers. This has been changing rapidly over the last year, with printers becoming cheaper and more accessible to businesses, hobbyists, students, schools, and associations. We collaborate with schools, technical science associations, hobbyists... More and more companies are realising the benefits of 3D printing for prototyping, patterns, gadgets... and so our cooperation with them is increasing,'' explained the young director.
Their current portfolio contains 3D modelling, 3D printing, document production and designs specifically requested by their increasing number of customers.
They're also thinking of expanding, and they have pointed out the fact that they are preparing more interesting products and services. For now, their focus is primarily on Croatia's market, but as soon as they are ready to explore opportunities abroad, they will take that chance.
In spring, the young men underwent a mentoring program for beginner entrepreneurs, and the president of the Croatian Network of Business Angels, Davorin Štetner, praised them. As he told Poslovni Dnevnik back at the time, he was impressed by the quality and creativity of DiV Plastics, which he believes will soon be ready for business angel investment.
"I'd like to thank Mr. Davorin for his business-related advice. It has been enjoyable and he has been helpful on the mentoring program, and I hope we will continue our collaboration," said Jovan, also giving a snapshot of the state of the domestic startup scene.
"It's mostly IT companies. I think the Croatian startup scene is relatively good in terms of circumstances. We lack the skilled staff, from engineers to marketing experts, we lack the hardware factories so that newly developed products don't have to go and be made in China or somewhere else abroad,'' said Valentino Jovan. As new entrepreneurs, they have already encountered the neuralgic points of Croatia's draconian system.
"We were most troubled by the lack of information and a lot of half-true or totally wrong information. It is difficult for us to find out all of the conditions we need to satisfy, what documentation is required. Young entrepreneurs are left to study and read manuals and find out laws and to decide what applies to them or not.
When it comes to production, especially newer technologies, you're just left to do it yourself. The second biggest obstacle is finding proper business spaces, from the beginning, we were looking for one suitable for our type of production, and only recently we were able to move in, and it's been almost a year.
For young entrepreneurs, offices are generally available, which is great if you're an IT company, but as soon as you have machines you need to have in function, then there are problems. Most of these premises don't have adequate access, proper installations... " Jovan warned.
Fortunately, they managed to get a meeting with Željko Posavec from their municipality, who quickly recognised the needs of young ambitious entrepreneurs.
''We received 55,000 kuna in support from HZZ and this is really important for all young entrepreneurs to be able to really get started in the beginning. We are also entitled to certain benefits because we employ mostly young people under the age of 30,'' the founders of this company from Northern Croatia state.
Their results are, for the time being, better than expected, with total revenues of 121,791 kuna last year, a profit of several thousand kuna.
''We expect multiple revenue increases this year due to increased business volume. We're pleased with the situation and the development, and we hope to continue this steady growth in revenue as we have done so far,'' concluded DiV Plastic's CEO, Valentino Jovan.
Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more.