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.
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