August the 12th, 2021 - Slavonia has unfortunately always been overlooked. With tourism still very much focused on the coast, even Zagreb continues to live in the Adriatic sea's shadow. Eastern Croatia can barely get a look in and Slavonian wine is often referred to as cheap. Could that all finally change with the Feravino winery's Slavonia-oriented projects? Maybe.

As Jozo Vrdoljak/Novac writes, back at the beginning of last year, in cooperation with the consulting company BlueRock Consulting, a strategy was developed for the development and long-term sustainability of Feravino, and consequently Fericanci in Slavonia as a destination.

The new vision of growth and development defined by the strategy undertaken by Feravino has the main goal of transformation into a modern boutique winery. In addition to the vision, the need for serious rebranding and new positioning was recognised because, given the complex market and the demands of today's consumer, Feravino faced significant challenges that need to be overcome. As such, Enosophia was created, a new brand that represents a new direction of the development of Feravino based on the long tradition of those vineyards, as well as investment, innovation, boutique production and a focus on quality.

A significant step forward

''The whole story began when we realised that we have to adapt and change in order to be able to alter our own perception on the one hand and the perception of Slavonia and Slavonian winemakers on the other. We saw the problem of the negative perception faced by Slavonian winemakers and the perception of Slavonia as a region where cheap wines are produced.

We decided to take these problems seriously, realising that we needed a strategic approach and a complete solution to tackle this issue. The result is a new development strategy, the development of which we worked on with expertsm'' said Ivan Maricic. With partners from the Bruketa & Zinic & Gray agency, the process of rebranding the Feravino winery has begun. A new brand architecture has been created with a new visual identity, and all the products it will launch in the coming years will also have a new air about them.

''Surrounding ourselves with the best in the industry, we've created a new brand that will be able to carry everything we've done so far and realise all our plans and ambitions. This is how Enosophia, our wisdom of wine, was created,'' explained Ivan Maricic.

The Feravino winery's brand new strategy implies a significant step forward in terms of wine production in the premium category, which ultimately aims to increase the share of sales in the higher price segment, especially the HoReCa channel. The strengthening of their portfolio with high-quality wines has also been confirmed by the first two brands of Enosophia, Grasevina TRS no. 5 and rose Matarouge. These are wines with which the Feravino winery wants to interest a younger audience. This is to be achieved by an innovative interactive label, the first of its kind in the Croatian wine industry. Intensive work is also being done on the development of more new products.

One of the most important projects for the adopted strategy is the development of continental tourism and Fericanci in Osijek-Baranja County as a destination. It is part of the holistic approach of the new winery, which, in addition to the excellence of the product itself, implies care for people, sustainable development and the proper positioning of Slavonia.

''Our idea isn't only to be among the best wineries in Croatia, but also a winery that will make Fericanci a desirable tourist destination and attract young people to return or come to live in Slavonia,'' emphasised Ivan Maricic.

Heritage hotel

The plan is to build a wine hotel with a capacity of 60 to 80 rooms, which will be built on the site of the old cellar.

''We'll set up a restaurant with all of the associated facilities in the vineyards, as well as some additional accommodation. Recently, we've had some horses and a stable built next to the location of the future wine hotel, which will further complete the future tourist offer,'' explained Maricic, adding that the value of these projects stands at over 20 million euros.

''We're also actively working on the construction of a heritage hotel, which will be realised with the restoration of the Mihalovic mansion. The project is worth six million euros and the hotel should be completed in the second half of 2022. It will be one of the more luxurious hotels in Croatia with fewer accommodation units, but with rich accompanying facilities,'' stated Maricic.

Along with tourism projects, the reconstruction and upgrade of the Feravino winery itself is planned, including the construction of a tasting room and showroom, with additional storage capacities. It is also a large investment, worth about five million euros in total.

''Over recent years, we've worked hard on raising new plantations and converting our vineyards. The conversion, which is the replacement of old vineyards with new ones, was done with the help of funds from the Wine Envelope, ie with cash from European Union (EU) funds. Last year, investments were completed in two new cellars, for fermentation and wine aging. One has a capacity of 570,000 litres of stainless steel containers, and the other 147,000 litres of large wooden barrels.

In total, more than five million euros have been invested in these projects in the Feravino winery in the last three years alone. We'd also like to emphasise our investment in new equipment for the production of sparkling wines,'' Maricic concluded.

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