The first hand-made oak parquet shipments have been delivered to the United States.
Their parquet is used all over the world. The company produces 700,000 square metres of parquet flooring a year, with more than 90 percent being sold in foreign markets. The largest buyers are Germany, Switzerland and China, and recently they have also started selling in North America. Four shipping containers of parquet floorings from the Pan Parket factory in Orahovica have recently crossed the Atlantic and landed in New York, reports Večernji List on May 17, 2017.
“The shipment includes 8,000 square metres of oak parquet. Each piece is unique because we produce it manually. We have been exporting to South America for a while, to Argentina, and our desire was to reach North America as well. We are taking part in many global business fairs, from Shanghai to Las Vegas, so we agreed the cooperation with an American partner during a fair in Hannover,” said Daniel Smiljanić, the owner of Pan Parket.
The company from Orahovica is the largest producer of finished three-layer parquet in Croatia, and produces over 350 different types of floor coverings. “We are cooperating with an architect who worked on Roman Abramovich’s yacht and many luxury villas in western Europe,” said Smiljanić, adding that Australia is the only continent where their products cannot be bought. The retail price of the parquet in Germany, for example, reaches up to 250 euros per square metre.
Daniel Smiljanić was born in Germany, where he grew up and then decided to settle in Slavonia, near his parents. He founded the company in 2003. “I was young and crazy. Although it is not easy to be an entrepreneur in Croatia, I have never regretted my decision”, explained the 42-year-old economist.
He said that the secret of Pan Parket’s success are people. “We have 130 employees. There are no fluctuations in our company, most of the employees have been working with us for a long time, they are eager to work and very professional. Everything is based on their knowledge and skills,” said Smiljanić.
For this reason, he is not even thinking about moving the plant to another country. “We are oriented to foreign markets anyway, and with the internet it is really not important where you are located,” added Smiljanić.
In the last year, Pan Parket has invested 10 million kuna in a new pressing machine and five new dryers, and the Ministry of Economy covered 35 percent of the investment.
They demonstrated their courage a few years ago when they decided to enter the Chinese market, which was an excellent decision. “China is an extremely large market with a future. People have a completely different mentality than in Europe, but once the cooperation is agreed, everything proceeds smoothly,” concluded Smiljanić.
