Croatian food, beverage and drug producer Podravka has signed a contract with Adriatic UK, which has become the exclusive distributor of its products in the UK and Ireland.
London-based Adriatic UK will market Podravka's brands in leading supermarket chains and the ethnic market. "Brajlovic", "Natura", "Doncafe", "Takovo," "Vispak", "Pionir", "Stark", "Kraš" are some of the most popular products from the Former Yugoslavia in the EU.
Adriatic UK is a member of Adriatic Group, a Vienna-based company that distributes food products from the Western Balkans to the EU market.
Podravka has also set up a unit in Dubai, which will oversee its operations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The new unit, which will provide access to 400 million potential consumers, should significantly simplify operations in the MENA region while creating additional development opportunities abroad. Additionally, Podravka is in the process of opening representative offices in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Beijing (China).
According to the company's consolidated results for 2014, net profit rose 38.7% y/y to HRK 92 million (€11.9 million), while total revenues fell 3.4% to HRK 3.5 billion (€454 million). Sales of food and beverages fell 4.1% to HRK 2.66 billion (€345 million).
Last year, Podravka continued with the restructuring of its business operations by quitting the low-margin baked goods category and the group is still seeking a buyer for its beverage business.
In Croatia, Podravka's sales fell 9.9% to HRK 1.44 billion (€187 million) while sales in the Southeast Europe region rose 3.3% to HRK 960 million (€124 million). Sales abroad totalled HRK 2.06 billion (€267 million).
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Story by Branislav Pekic
