May 29, 2020 – One of Croatia’s leading producers of healthy food is turning its attention to assisting with the COVID-19 crisis. Meet the Securol hand sanitizer which could soon be supplying the needs of Croatia at a fair price.
Call me crazy, but the longer this coronavirus crisis goes on, the more hopeful I am for a better Croatia in the post-corona era.
Yes, there will be severe economic hardship for more of us, and yes, life will not be the same. But this unique situation has also fostered an environment that can bring real change, an environment where the innovative little (or not so little) has a chance to make an impact much larger than one might expect.
A bit like Croatia itself on the world stage – this tiny country which dared to dream has overperformed on the world stage in some many fields. The World Cup obviously comes to mind, but look too at what Croats have contributed to technology, invention, innovation, health and IT.
Croatians are beginning to demand change, as the Glas Poduzetnika initiative gathers pace. Meanwhile, some of the finest Croatian minds are coming up with local solutions to tackle the unique set of challenges Croatia is currently experiencing.
Which brings us to a small village not far from the Slavonian town of Donji Miholjac, which is surrounded by fields and fields of prime arable land.
And much of that land has been put to very good use since 1981 by a local company called Protect Pharma. And with the current crisis, Protect Pharma is using its decades of expertise and resources to begin production of a very sought-after product both now and for the foreseeable future.
Hand santizer.
I absolutely love EVERYTHING about this project, but rather than me tell you about it, let’s meet Protect Pharma CEO Mladen Falamic, who tells us not only about his incredible food business, but also about how his new Securol hand-sanitizer could soon be servicing Croatia’s needs at a very affordable and fair price. Croatian tech, innovation and quality for Croatia, and beyond.
With the crisis in full swing and lots of appeals and solutions vying for attention, establishing trust in a venture is of paramount importance. So let’s start by establishing some credentials. Tell us who you are and what Securol is.
Firstly, it is not easy to explain who we are quickly, so a longer introduction is necessary to give a better understanding.
Protect Pharma Ltd. from Rakitovica near Donji Miholjac is a family-owned company which has been and continues to be successful in both Croatian and foreign markets. Our agricultural activities date back to 1981, and the production and processing of products started in 1989 known with the Fami brand.
As we have been engaged in agriculture – both processing and production – for many years, our knowledge and experience complemented by modern technology make us one of the major food industries in Croatia. When we began our agricultural production, we recognized the potentials of cultures that were not common in our area such as: garlic, chamomile, beans, peanuts and we were also doing the purchase of mushrooms and snails (in the early 1980s).
We cherish a long tradition in production of water, fruit and natural juices, syrups, pasta, spices, sauces, food seasonings, bread and bakery products, cakes, biscuits, additives for confectioneries and bakery, spice mixes etc. But as we always search for more challenges and follow the market demands, we are developing, exploring, creating innovations and more.
In an effort to transfer our unique achievements in healthy food and lifestyle to our customers, we developed a Green Life food, food supplements with health claims product line. Our long-standing tradition and experience in agriculture and food production have been transformed into the highest quality of Green Life product line. Green Life products are grown and produced in a completely natural way, which is affirmed by the certificates for these products (Croatian organic product HR-EKO-07, Austria Bio Garantie, Halal, Vegan, ISO 9001: 2015, HACCP, some are also Gluten-Free).
Our products are the result of many years of research, analysis, development and innovation, and as such, they follow the trends in the functional food industry, and with some products, we could say that we are setting trends. Green Life products are naturally grown and produced without flavour and color enhancers. Our new product line carries the role of functional food because besides having a high nutritional value, it has a beneficial effect on the general health of people.
As a business partner we guarantee the best, certified quality of raw materials and end products. Organically certified processing and drying of vegetables, fruits, oilseeds, cereals, spices and herbs, the development and production of products that have a positive impact on human health are just some of the activities our company performs. All our processing facilities, agricultural areas, as well as sales, accounting and administration are located in a small Slavonian village called Rakitovica. Rakitovica is located north side of the Karašica river, surrounded by vast fields and forests, and on the other, the north side, about 5 km away is the town of Donji Miholjac and the river Drava. The area of fertile Slavonia is ideal for organic agriculture and organic food production.
Our goal is to expand to new markets, and to become a market leader recognized in quality and authenticity.
Securol is one of the first sanitizing brands that emerged as a problem solution for the current situation. We usually produce other products and services, but Securol is a whole new area of our activities. We have all the basics needed to develop such a product in two weeks, and so we did. And we want it to last.
The corona crisis has caused lots of destruction but also brought some opportunity. How did you go from food products to sanitiser production?
To maintain clean and disinfected facilities, we have regular daily cleaning procedures, but when COVID-19 hit our area, at one point we could not buy sanitizers. There was a huge hole in market, but as we use alcohol for hemp extraction, we had a big quantity of alcohol in stock. So initially we developed and made sanitizer for our own purposes. Of course, people talked about it, and we got inquiries from pharmacies, the police, civil protection headquarters, and so on… So we did some more due diligence and in an extremely short period of time, we developed the brand Securol to be ready for the market and fully compliant with EU regulations.
At the moment you have 1600 bottles ready for sale and distribution, but you have the capacity to produce much more. Tell us about the capacity you have if you had all you needed. What are you missing and what do you need to get to optimal production levels?
The situation with our stock is changing from hour to hour, and at this particular moment, we have 1600 bottles of 50 and 100ml Securol 75, and a couple of thousand of 1000ml. As we usually produce and fill CBD oil in our lab, we use those machines so we can easily produce and fill, such as 10,000 small bottles per day. If we talk about 500ml and 1000ml, we can produce a “little bit” more, Something like 6.000 bottles of 1000ml per hour, and a third line is for bottles of 5 liters and then we can produce and fill like 15.000 liters per hour. In this very unique time in which we live there is a shortage of regular things, such as small bottles, or spray caps, some raw material, packaging material etc.
Can you give us some quality assurance that the sanitizer has been approved by the authorities?
Yes, the Safety Data Sheet has been approved by the Institute of Public Health in Croatia, a customs license to handle ethanol, an SGS certified production at the plant in Rakitovica.
We have a safety certificate verified by “Zavod za javno zdravstvo Andrija Štampar” and a permit from the Ministry Of Health for the product to be marketed.
Ok, now let’s get practical. You have a great product needed by everyone in Croatia. How do you reach your market? What are the logistical challenges?
We want to be as close to people’s hands and items as possible. That’s why we will sell Securol to our existing partners – retail chains, webshop platforms, possible direct delivery to customers at their homes or other places with our logistics partners. And we also want to use new innovative partners like Glovo or Bike Express as a bicycle delivery system, at least in Zagreb. In short, we will sell to our partners via webshops, physical stores and hopefully one nice distributor for the entire country. We also plan to sell to other markets in need, preferably through a distribution partner for an entire area or country. But first we plan to build the business only to work in Croatia and optimize our role in the crisis and maintain the opportunity to keep our plant open and working for the 30 workers there. We want to build this story to be a long-term brand and business, it is very important to us to keep control over our products and have them flexible for adoption if needed by specific partners needs, as in the market at home and the world.
What IS your market – retail, wholesale, institutions?
All of the above. First and foremost, we are a factory. But in times like these and also in general, we strive for the most optimal solutions with which we can have as many open doors as possible, but choose when to knock and get in.
Tell us a little about price and transparency.
This situation had created chaos, and prices have sky-rocketd. And as we are the creator of product – Securol, we are taking care to find the most reliable, higher-quality raw materials, the best packaging that is also fully possible to recycle packaging materials. But we also want to place a heavy emphasis on fair pricing. We have already made changes to our pricing when raw material price changes to lower, so we keep transparency based on raw material and packaging material market prices.
Certainty is one of the things most sought after in this increasingly uncertain world. How soon do you deliver?
Yes it is… and it is important to be calm and precise. We already started deliveries last week, and expanding our network of partners constantly.
How do people order, and how do they get involved if they want to support your bottles, either financially, or perhaps with supply of empty bottles, for example?
Easy. Orders are by email, partners, webshops, local stores, etc…
Yes, there is the option of involving our partners to provide us bottles they prefer to use, and it already works. We are also developing new brands for our partners abroad.
You can get it all in our webshop on our web page. Both end consumer and wholesale buyers can get it there. You can get it all in our webshop on our web page. Both end consumer and wholesale buyers can get it there.
Consumers can’t pay for now with credit cards. But one can pay the postman on receipt or simply through an invoice.
Big buyers simply write an email to us with their company info and inquiry about the product and delivery.
Visit the Securol Facebook page here.
Learn more about the Protect Pharma range of food products.
Now meet Mladen in a video interview organised, filmed and edited by Gustavo Vilera. Mladen is a really inspirational guy, and a symbol of the new Croatia 2.0.
