Podravka d.d. is a Croatian food company based in

Koprivnica Koprivnica () is a city in Northern Croatia, located 70 kilometers northeast of Zagreb. It is the capital and the largest city of Koprivnica-Križevci County. In 2011, the city's administrative area of 90.94 km2 had a total populati ...

. Founded in 1934, today it is one of the largest food companies in Southeast Europe. Podravka

History

1934–1990

The brothers Marijan and Matija Wolf founded the company on 14 June 1934. At the time, the firm was a fruit factory. When the

communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

under

Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 until his death ...

took power in 1947 the company was

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 contrasts with priv ...

and received its current name. In 1949, Podravka started producing fruit jam. In 1952 new products were released on the market: once a fruit factory Podravka now started producing candy,

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, small, round seeds of ...

ketchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and sour flavor. "Ketchup" now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes for different varieties contained mushrooms, oysters, mussels, egg whites, grapes, or walnuts, amon ...

fruit brandy Fruit brandy (or fruit spirit) is a distilled beverage produced from mash, juice, wine or residues of edible fruits. The term covers a broad class of spirits produced across the world, and typically excludes beverages made from grapes, which are ...

and canned meat. The production of

instant soup Instant soup is a type of soup designed for fast and simple preparation. Some are homemade, and some are mass-produced on an industrial scale and treated in various ways to preserve them. A wide variety of types, styles and flavors of instant s ...

s started in 1957. The

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

on the chicken soup became a symbol in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. In 1959 Vegeta was released. Today, the

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to enhance the Flavoring, flavour, to complement the dish or to impart a specific flavor. Such specific flavors generally add sweetness or pungency, or sharp or piquant ...

is sold in more than 40 countries. In 1967, Podravka had its first cooperation with international companies and exported Vegeta to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

for the first time. After founding the subsidiary Belupo in 1972 Podravka started producing pharmaceuticals in

Ludbreg Ludbreg is a town in Croatia, located halfway between Varaždin and Koprivnica near the river Drava. It has 3,603 inhabitants, and a total of 8,478 in the entire municipality (census 2011). History For centuries Ludbreg has been a popular plac ...

and starting 1981 in Danica as well.

1990–present

After Croatia regained

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

, Podravka was

privatized Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

in 1993 and transformed into a stock company. The trade of Podravka shares at the

Zagreb Stock Exchange The Zagreb Stock Exchange or ZSE ( ) is a stock exchange located in Zagreb, Croatia. It is Croatia's only stock exchange. The exchange trades shares of Croatian companies, as well as bonds and commercial bills. The ZSE was established in 1991 a ...

started in 1998. With the 130 million euros gained from the stock market launch, three new factories were built. In 2000 new production sites in Koprivnica and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

were opened for Vegeta. In the same year Podravka took over the exclusive sale of

Barilla ''Barilla'' refers to several species of salt-tolerant (halophyte) plants that, until the 19th century, were the primary source of soda ash and hence of sodium carbonate. The word "barilla" was also used directly to refer to the soda ash obtain ...

products in Poland and one year later the exclusive sale for

Kraš Kraš () is a Croatian food company based in Zagreb, specializing in confectionery products. In 2012, Kraš was, after Podravka, the second largest Croatian exporter of food. History The company traces its origins from two factories from the ear ...

in Hungary. In honour of

Zlata Bartl Zlata Bartl ( Dolac, 20 February 1920 – Koprivnica, 30 July 2008) was a Bosnian Croat scientist and the creator of Vegeta. Bartl finished school in Sarajevo and went to Zagreb to study natural sciences, engineering, medicine and health, biotechn ...

, who was responsible for the development of Vegeta in 1959, the company created the ''Zlata-Bartl-Foundation'' in 2001. Podravka took over ''Ital-Ice'' and the Czech company ''Lagris'' in 2002. That same year Podravka signed partnership agreements with

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

Heinz The Kraft Heinz Foods Company, formerly the H. J. Heinz Company and commonly known as Heinz (), is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. ...

and

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

and transformed the pharmaceutical subsidiary Belupo into a stock company. In 2003, Podravka opened a new manufactory in the industrial zone of Danica. Three years later, it took over the brand ''EVA''. In 2007, Podravka acquired the companies ''Warzywko'' and ''Perfekt'' in Poland and ''Lero'' in Croatia. That same year, the

Vienna Stock Exchange Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

added Podravka to the CROX-Index. Podravka signed a

merchandising Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...

agreement with

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

in 2008. That same year it took over the brands Čokolešnik and ''Čoko''. In 2009 a financial scandal led to the arrest of several board members under charges of corruption 35 million Euros in company funds was secretly channeled in an attempt to acquire a large stake in Podravka. The Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and former Podravka supervisory board member Damir Polančec resigned his government post. In 2009 Podravka acquired ''Belsad'' and opened a new logistics center in

Dugopolje Dugopolje is a village and a municipality in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County. Name The name ''Dugopolje'' literally translates as 'long field'. Demographics In the 2011 census, the total population of the municipality was 3,469, in the ...

. In 2010, Podravka products were produced in the United States for the first time. In 2012 Zvonimir Mršić became Podravka's chief executive officer and Dubravko Štimac was elected chairman of the supervisory board. In 2013, the company opened a ''Food innovation center'' in cooperation with the

Ruđer Bošković Institute The Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI; , , IRB) is a research institute located in the Šalata neighborhood of Zagreb, Croatia, founded in 1950, which studies the sciences. Description It is the largest Croatian research institute in the fields ...

. In the same year, Podravka signed an agreement with the Croatian spirituous beverages' producer

Badel 1862 Badel 1862 d.d. is a Croatian alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Zagreb. Today's Badel originated following the Second World War, after the communist government nationalized the companies Pokorny, Patria, Arko, Marijan Badel, and Badel ...

for exclusive distribution of Badel products in Slovenia. In 2014, Podravka took over the fish processing company ''Mirna'' and acquired a 51.55% majority stake in Slovenian food company Žito in 2015.

Consumer brands

Podravka markets its products under brand names including: *''

Vegeta ( ), fully referred to as , is a fictional character in the Japanese franchise ''Dragon Ball'' created by Akira Toriyama. Vegeta made his appearance in chapter #204 "Sayonara, Son Goku", published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine on January ...

'' – an original condiment which is a mixture primarily of salt with flavour enhancers,

spices In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

and various vegetables. It was developed in 1959 by

Bosnian Croat The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats (), are native to Bosnia and Herzegovina and constitute the third most populous ethnic group, after Bosniaks and Serbs. They are also one of ...

scientist

and her team, and is sold worldwide. It is produced by Podravka, and two Vegeta licensees from Austria and Hungary. There have been around 50 instances of other companies attempting to reproduce the product. Vegeta was conceived in 1958 in Podravka's laboratories. The product was first sold in

in 1959 as "Vegeta 40". In 1967 Vegeta was first exported to Hungary and the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and is now sold in around 40 countries worldwide. There is also a "no MSG added" version for those avoiding

monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is a sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer with a ...

. *''Warzywko'' – a condiment similar to ''Vegeta'', sold in Poland *''Eva'' – sardines, tuna, mackerel & herring *''Tallianetta'' – pasta meals *''Vital Fini-Mini'' – small soups *''Fant'' – half ready-to-serve meals *''Belsad'' – marmelades and jams *''Sms'' – oils *''Provita'' – cereals *''Čokolino'' and ''Lino'' – food for small children *'' Čokolešnik'' and ''Čoko'' – food for small children *''Dolcela'' – cremes *''Lero'' – juices *''Kviki'' – salted snacks Podravka also produces

pickled vegetables Pickling is the process of food preservation, preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either Anaerobic organism, anaerobic fermentation (food), fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects t ...

and

Ajvar Ajvar ( ; sr-Cyrl, Ajвар, ) is a condiment made principally from sweet bell peppers and eggplants. The relish became a popular side dish throughout Yugoslavia after World War II and remains popular in Southeast Europe. Homemade ajvar is ma ...

relish.

References

External links