Štark (pronounced: Shtark; full legal name: ''Soko Štark d.o.o. '') is a food manufacturing company based in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, Serbia. The main products of the company include candies,

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be savoury, similar to crackers. ...

s and

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

s. One of its hallmark products is ''Najlepše Želje'' a chocolate bar that means "Best Wishes" in Serbian.

History

The factory dates back to 1922 when a French soldier founded it under the name "Louit" after returning from the

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

front in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He later changed it to ''La Cigogna''. The firm grew over time into a large factory. It witnessed many political upheavals, starting as a privately owned enterprise and finally being nationalized by the state. It was joined with other smaller companies, creating one large food company in 1966 and changing the name to "Soko Štark". While it was in socialist Yugoslavia, the company was managed by the worker's organization, with workers themselves having a say in the way the company was run. In 2001, the company changed its business type to joint-stock company and entered the public

stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange a ...

, under name "Soko-Nada Štark", or shortened "Štark". In 2005, Štark was sold to Serbian company "Grand Prom". In 2008, the Slovenian food company Droga Kolinska became majority owner of "Grand Prom". In 2010, Croatian

consumer goods A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike an intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good. W ...

company Atlantic Grupa bought Slovenian food company Droga Kolinska, thus way gaining ownership over Štark. Štark products are imported into the United States by A.B Company, Inc.

Product lines

Štark's product line includes: * Assorted

s, in bars and in boxes * ''Najlepše želje'', the company's hallmark chocolate that comes in many flavors (plain

milk chocolate Milk chocolate is a form of solid chocolate containing Chocolate liquor, cocoa, sugar and milk. It is the most consumed types of chocolate, type of chocolate, and is used in a wide diversity of chocolate bar, bars, tablets and other confectione ...

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus '' Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according to ...

creme filled chocolate,

raisin A raisin is a Dried fruit, dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Afri ...

filled chocolate,

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

creme filled chocolate, dark chocolate with mint cream), etc. and in various sizes (50 g, 100 g, 200 g, 300 g) * Lady fingers * Biscuit and Tea cookies * Turkish delights * Chocolate Cream Bananas (not actually bananas, but a foamy desert covered with chocolate creme in the shape of a banana) * Jelly beans * Salty products (most notably '' Smoki'' and ''Prima'' salty bread sticks) * Chocolate and/or Hazelnut filled wafers (most notably ''Napolitanke'')

Miscellaneous

* According to Štark, 23 million ''Prima'' salty sticks are produced annually, with 45 sticks on average per bag. Each stick is approximately 12 cm long. * According to Štark, Chocolate Cream Bananas are their best-selling product, and on average, 66 million are sold annually.

Sponsorships

In 2017, Štark signed a naming sponsorship contract with

Belgrade Arena The Belgrade Arena ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Београдска арена, Beogradska arena, separator=" / ") is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Belgrade, Serbia. It is designed as a universal hall for sports, cultural events and other programs. ...

to bear its name for five years.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.stark.rs/
A.B. Company Inc, USA importer
1922 establishments in Serbia 2005 mergers and acquisitions D.o.o. companies in Serbia Food and drink companies established in 1922 Food and drink companies of Serbia Manufacturing companies based in Belgrade Serbian brands Serbian chocolate companies