As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes on the 30th of October, 2019, back in the middle of November last year, the Nar store with a rich offer of local and organic fruits and vegetables from Croatian OPGs opened in the Zagreb district of Špansko, more precisely at Ulica Marija Radić 14.
In the first week of the opening the store alone, a large number of interested people gathered in the neighbourhood, and all the credit goes to sisters Azra and Dina Delić. These young entrepreneurs graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture in Zagreb; Azra completed her bachelor’s degree in horticulture in the field of vegetable growing, and Dina in agroeconomics in agribusiness and rural development.
With the valuable knowledge gained at the faculty and listening to the needs of others, especially the younger population, who are increasingly choosing Croatian products and paying more careful attention to what makes up their diet, they decided to offer something to such conscious people within the Nar shop.
“Our goal was to find a new area with a predominantly younger population, which brought us all the way to the west of Zagreb, where there are a lot of new buildings and young families with small children who want to know what exactly they’re consuming. For some, we’re new and we try to listen to new customers and their questions and requests, so we can get new ideas. The interest is very big. The domestic products are much tastier, and of course, they’re also healthier, so if someone wasn’t interested in buying this type of product initially, after trying some of the domestic products, they come back to buy more and more.
The more we know exactly where the products came from and our customers also get to know that too, gives us even greater confidence to buy local products,” says 26-year-old Azra, who used the support of the Croatian Employment Service and with the welcome support, help and assistance of expert advisor Alma Jakupović, she successfully stepped into the world of entrepreneurship with her sister.
There’s a lot of support for each other, Azra says, so they work excellently when it comes to both business and private matters; while Azra easily agrees with suppliers and local producers on how to produce fruits and vegetables, Dina puts it all down on paper and does the accounts.
From abroad, they procure products that are not actually available here in Croatia, and these are ecologically certified products. Their business network is constantly expanding, and they are currently working with around 50 Croatian OPGs.
“Some people contact us and offer their products, and we meet some of them at trade shows, through OPGs, with whom we’re already working or we find something new and interesting by surfing the Internet. We try to visit our co-workers on their properties as much time allows us to do so, so that we can convey to our customers the best way their fruits and vegetables are grown, and later the processed products,” explains Azra.
People of all ages come to their store because here, says the entrepreneur, everyone can find something they like. “Kids always choose some healthy biscuits or our freshly squeezed juice, and the older ones will still treat themselves to a bottle of top quality oil or some semi-hard cheese,” she adds.
“We’re satisfied with the business as we’ve been able to cover all of our costs so far, but for further progress and development I think we’ll have to be patient for a little while longer,” concludes Azra.
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