Štark (pronounced: Shtark; full legal name: ''Soko Štark d.o.o.'' ) is a food manufacturing company based in Belgrade, Serbia. The main products of the company include candies,

biscuits A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries 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 s ...

and chocolates. 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 (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

front in World War I. 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 Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to priv ...

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 Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

, 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, 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 a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, but ...

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

milk chocolate Milk chocolate is a solid chocolate confectionery containing cocoa, sugar and milk. Chocolate was originally sold and consumed as a beverage in pre-Columbian times, and upon its introduction to Western Europe. Major milk chocolate producers in ...

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 accordi ...

creme filled chocolate,

raisin A raisin is a 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, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the d ...

filled chocolate,

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely a ...

yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bact ...

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 Turkish delight or lokum ( ota, لوقوم) is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional varieties are often f ...

*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 Smoki (Serbian Cyrillic: Смоки) is a well-known puffed corn snack from Serbia, brought to the market by Soko Štark from Zemun in 1972 as the first of its kind in Southeast Europe.

'' and ''Prima'' salty bread sticks) *Chocolate and/or Hazelnut filled

Wafers A wafer is a crisp, often sweet, very thin, flat, light and dry biscuit, often used to decorate ice cream, and also used as a garnish on some sweet dishes. Wafers can also be made into cookies with cream flavoring sandwiched between them. They ...

(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 Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 millio ...

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