The organic market in Croatia

The organic market in Croatia came to life in 1996. Right from the start, small organic food shops and supermarkets started selling organic products, with most goods being imported from the EU and overseas. Compared to other countries undergoing transformation in the Balkans, the Croatian organic market is well developed and consumers can buy organic products in large towns. The main reasons expressed by consumers in Croatia for buying organic food are to do with health as well as the taste of the products. Organic foods are seen as luxury products due to the high prices.

The organic market reached in Croatia a peak in 2001 after the national law on organic production was passed. Organic products can be identified by the national label „Hrvatski Eko Proizvod“, the German label „Biosiegel“ and the EU-Label. Important food brands in Croatia are Alnatura, bio&bio, Oatly, Molenaartje, Mitoku, Rapunzel and Davert. Strong non-food brands in organic/health stores are Dr. Hagiwara’s Green Magma, Spirulina Pacifica, Dr. Hauschka (Wala), Primavera and Ecover. The share of domestic products on all organic food sales is 10 %, according to the Specialised Organic Retail Report. The best sold domestic product groups are non-perishing products as well as fruit and vegetables. The best sold imported product groups are non-perishing products and cosmetics. The most important countries for import are Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Japan.
(Photo: range of organic products from Croatia)

Profile of retail channels that sell organic products
 

Source: Specialised Organic Retail Report Europe 2008

The dm-chain was one of the first to sell organic products - Alnatura from Germany - in Croatia. A few years ago dm also started to introduce local items like organic flour in their 95 stores in Croatia. Billa has also introduced organic products to the market. The national Konzum supermarket chain also sells organic products in their more than 600 stores which cover the entire Croatian territory. The company’s larger stores (Super Konzum formats) have a wide variety of organic products available. The chain started selling organic products in these outlets three years ago, and the range currently covers more than several hundred different lines. The demand for organic products is constantly rising, and Konzum is planning to expand its existing offer. In the case of all of the supermarket chains selling organic products, these items don’t exactly occupy pride of place. However, the share of organics does seem to be increasing. Supermarkets are not prepared to reveal their turnovers, and often they won’t give sufficient information about their organic product range. The first Croatian organic supermarket the 'Garden' shop will be opened on 23 September in Zagreb. The Garden will sell not only organic food, wine and soft drinks but also organic cosmetics. The organisers hope that the arrival of their new organic supermarket in Croatia will increase the number of Croats who want to improve their diet. Recently research by GfK (Croatia Market Research Institute) showed that only 10 % of Croatian citizens consume organics regularly, even though almost 80 % of them are informed about organic products. The reason for the low consumption is the high price of those products and their unavailability due to a lack of organic supermarkets.
 

Organic food shops sell 100 % organic products, such as dry food, fruits and vegetables, supplements, natural cosmetics and cleaning products. Most of the products - about 90 % - are imported from abroad. Direct marketing also plays an important role. At the green markets in Zagreb, Osijek and in other larger towns organic products are available at stalls run by producers. These products are mostly fresh or lightly processed homemade goods like pickles and salads. Organic wholesalers play an important role in increasing the range of organic products. Biovega  (photo above) is the first organic wholesaler in Croatia and owns the bio&bio food store chain (picture) which are the biggest organic shops in Croatia.

Biovega started its business in 1996. It is the main player and leader on the Croatian market, and the first company in Croatia to import organic products. bio&bio sells certified organic products exclusively – a range of about 2,500 organic lines. Their most important product groups are the bio&bio home brand for grains and beans, food supplements like Green magma and BioAstin, Spirulina and certified natural cosmetics (face & body care) like Rose facial cream from Dr.Hauschka and Primavera Life assortment of essential oils and cosmetics. It is the most successful health food store concept in the area with seven shops in Croatia. bio&bio stores were established under that name in 2003. Currently 85 people are employed at Biovega, and the company has established business cooperation with 26 companies. It is an exclusive distributor of around 30 globally leading eco-brands. Products are distributed throughout Croatia – to herbal pharmacies, pharmacies, supermarkets and health food stores. In recent times the company has witnessed a constant increase in sales of domestic organic produce in Croatia, which is about 30 % per year.  The cooperation between local organic producers and Biovega is very successful for many reasons, one of which is the work of Biovega’s Ecological Production Manager, Ksenija Piršljin, who is agronomy engineer. She is in communication with organic producers daily, monitors their work in all production phases, and advises them during the cultivation process. Also, Biovega organises and coordinates professional education for organic farmers which focuses on practical work in the field.
 

The company’s brands are bio&bio – a selection from the world of cereals, legumes, seeds and nuts for the specialised retail sector - and Ekozona. More than 100 products in line with the latest trends are being produced in the bio&bio line. New and exotic products are always being added to meet the requirements and wishes of customers. The other brand is Ekozona, which is sold to supermarkets. Currently there are about 40 Ekozona products with attached leaflets on sale in Ipercoop supermarkets and soon they will be available in other major supermarkets too. The Nova Restaurant is also owned by Biovega and has been operating for 15 years. It offers vegan and organic specialities based on macrobiotic principles. Foreigners as well as locals have found a peaceful retreat there. The Orgona Studio also belongs to the company and is a beauty studio for natural face and body care in the heart of Zagreb. All treatments are performed exclusively with certified natural skincare products from Dr. Hauschka and Primavera Life. Biovega has two sister companies – Makronova, the pioneers in macrobiotics and natural lifestyles, which since 1985 has been offering a complete educational programme including natural nutrition, body care and other skills. Planetopija is the company’s publishing house. The very first book on macrobiotics in Croatian – Food for Life – was published in 1995. It is dedicated to healthy lifestyles and holistic medicine.
 

The Grbic Family Farm was founded in 1990 with only one employee. 15 years later, the farm employs 15 people who are the mainstay of the firm. The principal activity of the Grbic family farm is agricultural production on 250 ha of land – for example, wheat, maize, soy, rape, oat and barley seeds and seed processing. They belong to a cooperative that farms approximately 3000 ha of land, involving 250-300 contract farmers, who get production materials from them. Grbic buys their products and provides them with free-of-charge advisory services regarding organic production. In the next few years, the company expects to improve agricultural production and to develop cattle breeding. Since 2004 they have been growing and buying pumpkins, and have brought top-quality products (pumpkin seed oil and pumpkin seeds) to the market under their brand name. These products can be found in well stocked pharmacies and specialised shops.
 

Trampus Organic Family Farm is a small organic family farm with four family members. Lavender, rosemary and pyrethrum are grown and processed on the farm. 17,000 lavender bushes, 1,000 rosemary bushes and 300 pyrethrum bushes are planted in their fields. The farm has a small mobile distillery. Dried lavender flowers, essential oil and hydrolates are produced from the picked lavender; essential oil and hydrolates are made from rosemary, and pyrethrum produces dried flowers. The business Spelta – Zrno Prirode was established in 2006 to produce wheat, pod and vegetalable products, ranging from spelt cookies with various spices, pasteurized salads with root vegetables and pods, to bread and cakes. The company’s goal is to offer customers original natural recipes that create a way of life where we take responsibility for our own health and quality of life and adopt a responsible relationship with nature. They also offer education in the field of natural and healthy lifestyles through workshops and lectures on cooking.
 

Bio-Zrno cultivates all sorts of organic cereals, beans, fruit and vegetable daikon, jerusalem artichokes, carrots, beet, turnips and sweet potatoes. From these natural products they make, for example, traditional bread, biscuits, cakes, and salads. In their ecological-educational centre, the company holds seminars and workshops dealing with natural cultivation and healthy cooking, and there is also a special arrangement called “School in Nature” for children, students, visitors and tourists. Ecological tourism enables their visitors to enjoy nature and learn about healthy living. The owner of farm Bio-Zrno, Mrs. Zlata Nanic, is a pioneer in organic farming in Croatia. Since she founded her farm she has been travelling around the country, teaching people about organic cultivation and motivating others to live healthier.
 

Cegec Organic’s wine production encourages the diversity of flora and fauna with the goal of creating a stable ecosystem. Since 1994, four of the company’s white wines and one red wine have the appellation of controlled origin. Following many years of education in Croatia and abroad, the company has raised its organic production to an even higher level by implementing biologically dynamic guidelines. Annapurna is situated near Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. It was established in 2001 as a small family business for producing soy and wheat-based vegetarian organic products and meat alternatives. Over the years it developed into the largest Croatian company of this kind. Today it supplies over 75 customers throughout Croatia including health food stores, supermarkets and restaurants. Annapurna is the first Croatian producer of ravioli, pasta filled with tofu or seitan and the first producer of fermented soy drinks and soy yoghurts. The long-term plan of the company is to enter organic markets in the neighbouring countries as well as developing new products.

Svirce Agricultural Cooperative (picture) is located at the village Svirce in the middle of the island of Hvar. The company’s vineyards are situated on the southern part of the island. In addition to numerous awards and acknowledgements received in Croatia, some of the international exhibitions at which gold medals were won were in Paris 2006, Verona 2006, London 2006 and Znojno 2006. Svijet Biljaka Ltd. was established with the mission to produce high-quality lavender and other aromatic plant- based products in the Istrian region. OPG Duhacek is a company specialising in organic bee-keeping. They produce honey in different varieties like acacia, amorphia, linden, clover, chestnut and blackberry. The company also sells pollen, probolis and beeswax. Farma Jola produces olive oil from their 2,000 olive trees.

Sever Farm has established the first and so far only delivery system for organic products in Zagreb. They sell fresh and processed products like flour and pickles from their farm. The Sever Family is a pioneer in organic farming in Croatia. Their company cultivates and processes cereals, vegetables, fruit, poultry, eggs and goat products. During the last few years they have established their own grain and vegetable processing unit (pickled) and they sell the products direct to consumers, organic food shops and supermarkets, such as dm. Apart from that, they have started a box scheme to deliver to consumers in Zagreb.  Andrasek family farm raises goats and produces cheese, which they enrich with various spices and herbs. Education plays an important role, and the family has included their farm in the rural tourism sector – people visit the farm where they can get acquainted with the production process, taste the cheeses, and enjoy farm animals and the natural setting. The Spider group specializes in the production and processing of medicinal herbs and teas. The vision of the group is to become the largest regional processor of high quality medicinal herbs as raw material for producers of teas and medicinal teas, as well as for producers of products based on medicinal herbs. The mission of the Group is to create new values with a high profile across the regional market and constantly to improve the satisfaction of employees, their business partners and the business environment. 

Riba Mljet can be found in one of the bays of Mljet. It is strategically located at a bay that is rich with plankton and minerals where the ocean stream constantly brings clean and healthy sea water.  Riba Mljet d.o.o. decided to grow fish and at the same time to respect nature. They make sure that the fish has plenty of room to swim. Besides the food provided by nature, the company decided to feed their fish with the best organic food available on the world markets, and not to feed it with unnecessary medications or antibiotic laced food.The fish grow as it is planned by nature. Only when the fish has the right size it is brought on the market. Riba Mljet is proud to be the first Croatian farm certified by Naturland (Germany) as an Organic Fish Farm. It produces sea bream and sea bass.

For the future, it is expected that various new outlets will be launched in Croatia and that the market will expand. Demand will increase and the market predictions are very positive. However, supply by local producers needs to be increased to meet the rising demand, since consumers are getting more and more aware of health and taste issues. Nevertheless, the level of consumer awareness has to be raised. More advertising and state support could help. It is very important to keep supply channels from abroad intact, especially until national supplies can be guaranteed.
 

The most serious problem for the organic sector in Croatia is the inadequate supply of domestic organic food, especially in the cities. There is no continuous supply of products from Croatian farms to retailers and processors. A further problem is that each imported organic product has to be certified, which means it has to be certified for a second time by an authorised certification body. There are two certification bodies and five inspection bodies licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture in Croatia which check imported goods and quantities. They control the whole production process. There are also laboratories to check samples of each organic product. A large amount of bureaucracy and paperwork slows down the process of confirmation. Another problem is the fact that the Croatian certificate hasn’t been recognised abroad.

In a new EU research project, Ecozept together with partners from across Europe will research the food markets in the Balkan countries. Ecozept’s focus will be on the organic market of Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia. The aim of the project is not only the description of these organic markets, which are, incidentally, developing very well. It is also the transfer of know-how in terms of market research and marketing to market actors and market observers in the Balkans. More information on the project is available here

"The Specialised Organic Retail Report Europe 2008". The report gives a very good survey on all European countries including the non EU-countries. It can be ordered for 260 Euros:
Ecozept, Phone: + 49 (0) 8161-14820, Fax: + 49 (0) 8161-148222