April the 23rd, 2021 - The Queen Cow milk brand (Kravica kraljica) is the newest Croatian milk brand to come out of a successful year for the Osijek Belje factory which managed to retain most of its workforce despite the economic woes caused by the pandemic.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, if you've been following the business news in Croatia you'll likely recall that not so long ago, a relatively well known company called Belje took over the Osijek-based Meggle dairy factory, managing to keep hold of about 250 subcontractors and about 90 employees, according to a report from Danica.hr.

The factory was successfully saved during turbulent times for all and even started producing something new, the aforementioned Queen Cow milk brand (Kravica kraljica). This week, this new Croatian milk finally hit the shelves of numerous stores.

Belje Plus CEO Andrej Dean also revealed recently that it is "the only one in Croatia that has more than 4,000 cows in its own production, thus providing more than 35 million litres of milk to the public from its own sources.''

In addition, the company Vupik from the wider Fortenova Group (formerly Agrokor) produces an additional 12 million litres, and with another 13 million litres from subcontractors, meaning that they have a total of more than 58 million litres of milk per year.

This also means that Belje's other products, such as their popular cheeses and spreads, are made one hundred percent from Croatian milk. The Osijek Belje factory is now busy and planning new investments worth 10 million euros.

To briefly recall, Belje took over the factory in Osijek at the end of last year because Meggle decided to withdraw from the Republic of Croatia. Before announcing its departure, Meggle had about 270 subcontractors and about 160 employees.

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ZAGREB, Oct 28, 2020 - Osijek-Baranja County Prefect Ivan Anusic said on Thursday that he is satisfied with the agreement on the sale of the Meggle dairy company, reached after months of negotiations between the Fortenova Group and Meggle's management in Osijek.

"When the news was announced in July that Meggle was leaving Croatia, aware that we could not change the management's decision, I called on Meggle's Croatian management for talks to find a way to retain the dairy tradition in Osijek and to save jobs. We held a meeting with interested companies at the Agriculture Ministry which launched these, now successfully completed negotiations based on which Belje Plus, a member of the Fortenova Group, has taken over the dairy," Anusic posted on his Facebook profile.

He underlined that as county prefect he could not influence business processes and decisions by companies doing business in the county but that he could extend a hand of cooperation to find the best possible solution,

Anusic believes that the example of Meggle has shown that mayors and county prefects can certainly contribute to resolving problems for all economic stakeholders who are prepared for talks.

"It is our duty to react, to cooperate and to connect businesses between themselves as well as with all levels of government. I congratulate the management of both companies for a job well done and wish Meggle's employees and subcontractors a lot of working days ahead in the dairy industry," said Anusic.

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As Novac/Nikola Patkovic writes on the 21st of October, 2020, milk processing and production in Osijek will not be shut down on December the 31st, 2020. Instead, the Osijek milk factory, currently called Meggle, will start operating in the system of the Fortenova Group on the first day of the new year, under the name of their company Belje Plus, which will buy the Osijek factory.

Thus, the crisis, which occurred three months ago when the German Meggle announced that it was ending its production in Osijek and Croatia at the end of this year, will still have a happy epilogue, because the factory will not close, and the ''victims'' of the decision will eventually be minimal. Although neither Fortenova, ie Belje, nor Meggle want to officially confirm that an agreement has been reached, according to unofficial information, the "ironing out" of the last details is currently in progress, but the majority of the agreement has been reached. Belje will thus keep up to 70 percent of Meggle's 160 workers and continue processing and milk production in the Eastern city of Osijek, some workers will probably retire early, and some of them will be offered jobs in one of the other business units by Belje. Additionally, they plan to take over all subcontractors who want to continue working with them, and there are 282 of them.

The agreement

''The agreement is nearing its end and the last details are being agreed on. It's also important that Meggle keeps its promise that it will keep hold of all of its workers until the end of the year and pay them their salaries, and after that it will pay them the agreed severance pay,'' a person familiar with the negotiations between Belje and Meggle revealed.

It's worth reminding ourselves of the fact that Meggle's announcement that it is leaving Osijek and Croatia caused a big shock in Slavonia, which is already economically devastated and for which the closing of the factory with 160 jobs would be an additional blow/ Osijek-Baranja County Prefect Ivan Anusic was especially fierce at the time, saying that he was ready to initiate various types of pressure on Meggle because of such a decision. However, high-level meetings followed in the following days, in which the Croatian Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, joined in, and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic supported finding a solution that would preserve the 71-year tradition of Osijek's dairy industry. Anusic announced a few weeks ago that the end of negotiations on the takeover of Meggle was in sight.

''Talks with Meggle are over. Meggle is leaving, but 65 to 75 percent of workers will stay working. We'll take care of the other workers. Production will continue in Meggle's plants, and the details should be reported to the public by those who led the negotiations,'' said Anusic two weeks ago on HRT's Otvoreno/Open show. Even now, he didn't want to go into details until the company itself announces them.

Meggle responded to an inquiry by saying that they "have made great efforts to ensure a positive outcome of the talks with several potentially interested companies. The negotiations are at a very high stage, but without the consent of other parties and given the obligation of confidentiality, we can't give you more information ".

Dukat also showed interest in buying Meggle, and the owner of Zito, Marko Pipunic, once said that he was interested, but there were no negotiations on the matter. When it comes to the workers, it is known that the unions have agreed with Meggle's management on their severance pay, which is 25 percent more than the legal obligation, and a total of eight million kuna has been provided for them.

More than 4000 cows

Belje, by the way, also has a dairy cattle farm with more than 4,000 cows that produce 35 million litres of milk a year, as well as a dairy factory where famous Belje cheeses are prepared. With this acquisition, Belje will increase its share of milk purchases on the Croatian market from 11 to 16 percent, but will still remain the third player on that scene, where two thirds of the market is held by Dukat with 42 percent and Vindija with 29 percent.

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ZAGREB, July 27, 2020 - The Croatian Association of Farmers (H.U.P.) on Monday proposed that the local authorities in Osijek-Baranja County should buy the dairy plant in Osijek which the current owner, Meggle, is going to close by the end of this year.

According to the proposal sent by the association to County Prefect Ivan Anusic and local councillors, the county should set up a company that can buy the Meggle plant and upon the stabilisation of its business, the plant should be offered for sale to the current 160 employees in the factory and contract farmers.

Recently Meggle announced that it would shut down its plant in Osijek.

After that, the Dukat company expressed its interest in buying up milk from Meggle contract farmers.

Dukat recalls that it cooperates with more than 2,000 small, medium, and big milk producers throughout Croatia.

"Milk production in Slavonia must not cease," says Dukat, a Zagreb-based company. 

A few days ago Agriculture Minister Marija Vuckovic and local authorities held a meeting with Meggle executives. After the meeting, the minister reassured all 280 contract farmers in the Osijek area that the buying up of their dairy products would continue.

Vuckovic said that contract farmers of Meggle Croatia should rest assured that the buying up of their products would continue. The 280 contract farmers have between 25,000 and 26,000 kilos of milk for sale. Dukat's representatives also attended the meeting.

ZAGREB, July 22, 2020 - The Dukat company is willing to buy up milk from Meggle contract farmers, the Zagreb-based company stated on Wednesday after recently Meggle announced that it would shut down its plant in Osijek.

Dukat recalls that it cooperates with more than 2,000 small, medium and big milk producers throughout Croatia.

"The milk production in Slavonia must not cease," says Dukat. 

The decision made by Meggle Croatia prompted Agriculture Minister Marija Vuckovic and local authorities to hold a meeting with Meggle executives on Tuesday. After the meeting, the minister reassured contract farmers in the Osijek area that the buying up of their dairy products would continue.

Vuckovic said that all 280 contract farmers of Meggle Croatia should rest assured that the buying up of their products would continue. The 280 contract farmers have between 25,000 and 26,000 kilos of milk for sale. Dukat's representatives also attended the meeting.

ZAGREB, July 16, 2020 - The Meggle Croatia dairy company said on Thursday it was restructuring its operations in Croatia and that it would phase out production in Osijek by the end of the year, laying off 160 workers.

The German-based Meggle Group is optimising its operations with the aim of setting business models viable in all markets in the long term, the company said in a press release, adding that a decision was therefore made to restructure operations in Croatia and phase out production in Osijek.

As of January 1, Meggle will operate in Croatia under a new business model.

The decision to restructure operations in Croatia and phase out production in Osijek was made due to years-long business challenges and a series of crises that impacted operations, from aflatoxins via the Agrokor conglomerate to the coronavirus.

In the restructuring process, the employer will ensure quality severance packages and social dialogue with workers and relevant bodies, the press release said.

The company said that over the past 15 years the group had invested over HRK 130 million in production and operations in Croatia.

According to the company's website, Meggle Croatia is the third-largest dairy company in the country with 185 employees.