August 21, 2020 – They focus on a high amount of micronutrients in products and traditional canning methods, primarily fermentation.
As Poslovni dnevnik writes, Nika Pintar and Bruno Balen are the founders of the Croatian startup called Cidrani, which has the vision to make every food a superfood. The team currently consists of four people, with about 20 external associates.
Cidrani was founded last year and launched its first products on the market in the middle of the corona crisis. In the first weeks of sales, they entered about 20 locations in Croatia, and they plan to have a minimum of 50 products by the end of the year.
They cooperate with dozens of subcontractors and procure raw ingredients according to quality criteria. Cidrani has seven products, of which the most sought after is Cidrani Honey – live apple cider vinegar with “wild mother“ culture infused with raw honey, and a novelty in their offer is Four Seasons, which could soon surpass Honey in terms of sales.
“With our Four Seasons gastro functional line, we have also been admitted to the SIAL Innovation prizes, one of the leading competitions for innovative functional food products in the world. Four Seasons is a unique concept that combines fermented herbs, raw honey, and apple cider vinegar in addition to dishes rich in probiotics, which is also a rhapsody for the palate because we believe that a healthy diet should attract with its taste,” Pintar and Balen point out.
Further plans
They will soon come out with another branch of Cidranija – Pharma, which will focus on the best from folk and traditional medicine, and it is a combination that includes extracts of Nordic mushrooms.
In addition to the webshop, their products can be found in specialized and health food stores, and by the end of the month, they should enter the chain of boutique stores from Istria. Their products can also be found in Zagreb’s restaurants Tač, Vodnjanka and Dubravkin put, and they plan to expand to the rest of Croatia and create recipes in collaboration with the best chefs and cocktail masters.
“We expect to be present at 500 locations in Croatia, Slovenia, and the Netherlands by the end of the year, combined through Ho-Re-Ca, retail, and specialized concept stores. Our sales are growing rapidly with 70% of repeat purchases. In the fall, we will realize the first seed investment, and the German investors with whom we are in negotiations consider us one of the most innovative food startups in Europe,” said the co-founders.
At the moment, they are doing everything in Croatia, but they are working on the new products that they are launching in September with partners in Bulgaria and Portugal.
“We came to the Netherlands for two months and we expect that by October at least 70 percent of sales will be realized outside Croatia,” said the co-founders adding that they also play to extend their market on Benelux countries, Scandinavia and DACH – Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
As they say, innovative products are just the beginning, and what they want is to open a wellbeing retreat center for cell regeneration and intergenerational education about a new lifestyle.
“The first such resort will be in Istria, but we would like to franchise the concept and expand to Switzerland, Ireland, and Sweden,” announce Nika Pintar and Bruno Balen.
