The Žito Group, since 2015 part of the Podravka Group, is setting up centralized tea production for the Podravka Group. Don Don has opened a modern plant for the production of toast bread in Kragujevac, Serbia, which will supply the Balkan markets. The Slovene food industry is achieving success with healthy prepared foods.
Andreja Lončar
In its desire to expand to foreign markets, the Slovene food industry has been investing in modernization and new production lines. This year the Žito Group set up a new pasta production line and is currently setting up centralized tea production for the whole Podravka Group at its plant at Gradišče near the border with Croatia.
Don Don has just started production of toast bread at the new modern plant in Kragujevac, the compa-ny’s new regional strategic centre for toast bread production and export.
Spelt, Buckwheat and Quinoa Are »In«
Health food has been setting strong trends and determining aspects of the development of food industry companies for years now. »While developing new products we follow trends towards an increase in the natural content of functional ingredients such as fibre, minerals, higher protein content,« says Matjaž M. Dremelj, Head of the export division at Žito. »We are going back to using old cereals and pseudo cere-als, such as spelt, and some other old types of wheat, buckwheat, quinoa, and amaranth. We are introduc-ing legumes and products made from ecologically grown ingredients. We’ve been reducing the use of allergenic substances and following the trends in
»We want to strengthen our presence in Germany, Sweden, and the USA, where demand is strong especially for Delamaris products.«
Petra Skok, Pivka Perutninarstvo
Photo: Žito Printed on the recycled paper Viprint, 80 g, by VIPAP VIDEM KRŠKO, d. d.
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Health and Wellbeing
health food production, which demands lower sugar and salt intake.«
Žito develops products with improved nutritional value within the European Food4Future project, which Žito joined along with 15 other partners.
»Food4Future was launched in September last year and will continue for four years. Strudel dough made from spelt flour is our latest innovative product. Spelt has a very balanced composition and is becoming increasingly popular with consumers in Slovenia and abroad,« adds Dremelj.
Don Don’s Bread for Sport Enthusiasts
It is similar at the Don Don Group, owner of the popu-lar brands Tvojih pet minut and Pekarna Grosuplje.
Maja Maroša, Head of their marketing division, mentions that Don Don introduced two new types of bread in 2017: the first one being the mixed-seed bread Sosed, produced on the basis of a new and improved recipe and with a higher pumpkin seed content, the second being Protein Bread, which has been awarded the »source of protein« nutrition claim.
»Protein represents more than 17 percent of the energy value of this new bread. Our Protein Bread is particularly made for active sports enthusiasts.
Protein intake has a beneficial effect on muscle mass and bone,« says Maroša.
Healthy Prepared Dishes
It is the development policy of the poultry meat processor Pivka Perutninarstvo to follow the demand for prepared healthy dishes. Pivka Perutninarstvo owns the Pivka brand of poultry products and the Delamaris brand of fish products.
The main Delamaris product is prepared mackerel salads, using a fish rich in healthy omega 3 fats. The company currently plans to widen its product portfo-lio with new flavours of mackerel and tuna salads, as well as mussels.
Pivka Perutninarstvo poultry dishes are availa-ble seasoned and in the roasting pan, prepared to be grilled or roasted. Pivka Perutninarstvo is the proud owner of high quality certificates for chicken products with omega 3 fatty acids and the selenium source code.
Žito Aiming at Non-European Markets The entire Slovene food industry makes a consid-erable portion of their sales in foreign markets. In 2016 Žito, since 2015 a part of the Croatian Podravka Group, made one fifth of its sales abroad (around 25 million euros). »This is almost a 12-percent increase.
This year, too, we expect a two-digit growth in sales,«
says Dremelj.
Žito’s strongest exports are pre-baked bakery products. »These are high-quality breads, which are kneaded, partially baked and then deeply frozen by Žito bakers in Slovenia. They are then shipped abroad where they are rapidly and simply baked to perfection on site in shops and petrol stations. Our bestselling pre-baked product is buckwheat bread with walnuts,«
further explains Dremelj.
Žito makes two thirds of its sales in Europe; its largest markets are Italy, Germany, Spain and Austria.
In the future the group wants to expand to non- European markets. »We expect an important rise in exports to China, Russia, North America and Canada,«
says Dremelj.
The Don Don Group With the Largest Toast Bread Production Plant in SE Europe
In 2016 the Don Don Group had nearly 90 million euros in revenue; in 2017 the company expects to exceed this figure. Apart from Slovenia, the company oper-ates in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Croatia, and is about to enter the markets in Romania and Albania.
Don Don employs around 2,700 people, 1,900 of them in Serbia, where the group has eight plants.
In Kragujevac, it has just opened the largest toast bread plant in SE Europe. The plant is to supply toast bread to Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Greece,« says Maja Maroša.
Slovenia Export More Food Than Food Giant Italy
In 2015 the Slovene food industry made one fourth of its 2 billion in revenue in exports abroad, which in terms of proportion of food exports places Slovenia side by side with big food producers. Italy, for instance, exported 21.9 percent of food sales in 2015 (28.9 billion out of total 132 billion euros of revenues made by food companies).
»The new toasted bread plant in Kragujevac is the company’s new regional strategic centre for toasted bread production and export.«
Maja Maroša, Don Don
Photo: Don Don
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Discover Slovenia, November 2017 Health and WellbeingDemand for Delamaris Fish in the USA Last year, the Pivka Perutninarstvo Group had 52 million euros in revenues. The group’s exports – to 20 countries worldwide – showed a ten percent increase.
Delamaris, its bestselling products being canned mackerel salads and mackerel fillets, exports 59 percent of its products, mostly to Austria, the USA, Australia and Russia.
The export of Pivka’s poultry products represent one fifth of all the group’s sales. The most popular export item is special chicken salami, followed by roasted chicken breast, pâtés and chicken meat.
»We want to strengthen our presence in Germany, Sweden, and the USA, where demand is strong especially for Delamaris products. We want to offer a wide range of delicacies suitable for all generations,«
says Petra Skok, Head of public relations at Pivka Perutninarstvo.
Perutnina Ptuj With the Poli Hot Dog Entering Foreign Markets
Perutnina Ptuj expanded their Poli brand to hot dogs.
From this year, customers in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can also buy Poli hot dogs, with ninety percent poultry meat, which is currently the highest percentage in the hot dog market.
Moreover, the company is the leading manufacturer of poultry meat products in south-eastern Europe;
it is strengthening export to Austria, Macedonia and Romania, where they have their own retail compa-nies, as well as to the markets of Switzerland, Great
Britain, Sweden and Italy. Recently the company has also worked toward penetrating new markets of the Middle East.
Perutnina Ptuj has developed a new picnic line, employing carefully controlled technological proce-dures which allow them to attain the desired shelf-life and quality of products with natural spices and aromas. Meat delicacies for the grill are thus available completely free of additives.
The company increased the exports of its products to Austria. What the consumers like best is the fresh chicken meat, conveniently available. Since February 2017, consumers in Austria have been able to enjoy meat from chicken-friendly breeding, which is a best-seller.
At the fair Agra 2017, the company received 32 gold and 25 silver medals for their products. Perutnina Ptuj was awarded the largest number of prestigious medals in the category of new products and thereby also special recognition for their spirit of innovation.
»We are going back to using old cereals and pseudo cereals, such as spelt, and some other old types of wheat, buckwheat, quinoa, and amaranth. We are introducing legumes and products made from ecologically grown ingredients.«
Matjaž M. Dremelj, Žito
Photo: Perutnina Ptuj Photo: Depopsitphotos Printed on the recycled paper Viprint, 80 g, by VIPAP VIDEM KRŠKO, d. d.
Source: Nielsen 2015
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