Istria’s famous olive oils are one of its best ambassadors.
Olive oil, wine, products made of tomatoes and fish are the top items of companies from the Istrian County with an excellent export potential. Agrolaguna, Agroprodukt, Podravka and Cromaris are all creating the agriculture picture of Istria. Agrokor has invested over 240 million kuna in Agrolaguna since it included it in its portfolio in 2004. The investments are mostly related to new vineyards, wineries and olive groves, reports Poslovni.hr on June 8, 2016.
Vineyards are spread over 600 hectares, and olive groves on almost 500 hectares. The annual production of wine is about 4.5 million litres and of olive oil 175,000 litres, while the production of hard cheese amounts to 300 tonnes. “At Agrolaguna we do not develop industrial, but manufactural production of the top quality products using traditional, original recipes. With great investments in technology we also invest continuously into the education of the employees, which represent the greatest value of Agroluna and Agrokor”, said Ljerka Puljić, member of the companies’ managing boards.
Agroprodukt from Pula has invested 25 million kuna in the last 10 years and is using about 200 hectares, producing 450,000 litres of wine and 25 tonnes of olive oil. They are also record-holders in tomato growing, but they have given up on the peach production. “It was impossible to compete with Italian producers. The options were to adjust to the market or to get on the street to [protest] in tractors”, said Agroprodukt director Aleksandar Bašić-Palković, explaining that they have turned to the more revenue yielding products – wine and olive oil. They sell everything they make on the domestic market, so they are currently not interested in exporting their products. Their oils win awards at all competitions they participate in, but they are not available in retail stores, since they sell it to restaurants.
Meanwhile, Podravka processes over 12,000 tonnes of tomato per year via the facility in Umag. It collaborates with Agroprodukt and with about 20 co-operators from the Pomidor association. Cromaris produces 900 tonnes of fish at the fish farm in Budava, near Pula, and 90 percent of the production is exported to Italy, France, Germany and Poland. They have all the EU certificates, said their marketing director Karmen Buršić, and this helps with exports. She also pointed to the “extra fresh” concept which guarantees the delivery of freshly caught fish within Croatia in 12 hours and in 24 to 36 hours on the other EU markets.
