As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sergej Novosel Vuckovic writes, Koprivnica, a continental Croatian town known for the Podravka brand and its numerous beloved products, might just gain more recognition from no less than the popular Somersby cider brand.
The product behind that name refers to the range of cider, a drink that has always been very popular in Northern Europe, and has since gained traction here in Croatia, and the production of which was started by the Danish beer company Carlsberg in its factory in Koprivnica around a decade ago.
Somersby is made there for the whole world, and only last year, despite the coronavirus pandemic, a total of 867 trucks full of bottles of different flavours of this wildly popular cider were sent to about twenty markets from the Carlsberg Croatia plant in Podravina, with another 200 tanks with this drink intended for tapping.
That nicknamed “Koprivnica cider” ended up in Tahiti, the Bahamas, Bermuda, but also Greenland, China, Congo, the USA, not to mention the EU markets, from Austria to Germany. These figures were announced recently at the factory by the President of the Management Board of Carlsberg Croatia, Marcin Burdach.
“Despite all of the challenges that the year 2020 brought with it, we’re very pleased with how it ended. Every year we record growth, including last year when exports to Germany and Hungary increased. Otherwise, Somersby production in Croatia started back in 2011. Initially, there were only three Carlsberg factories in the entire world that were producing Somersby cider, of which the Koprivnica plant was the first to start fermenting wine,” said Burdach, without giving any specific data on the company’s business results.
Here in Croatia, this cider is made in ten different flavours, including kosher apples, intended for the stricter Israeli market. Carlsberg Croatia also produces already renowned beer brands such as the much loved Pan in its various ways, as well as Tuborg and Carlsberg, which are originally Danish labels, and the company is also a significant employer, as it employs about 300 people in an otherwise fairly neglected part of the country.
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