September 29 – Croatia’s food and pharmaceuticals producer Podravka [ZSE:PODR] is investing between 15 million euro ($16 million) and 17 million euro in a new tomato-processing factory, with plans to open it next spring, the company’s CEO was cited as saying by local media.
The new factory, situated near Kalnik in northern continental Croatia, is expected to boast three times the production capacity of Podravka’s existing facility in the northern Adriatic peninsula of Istria, as reported by daily Poslovni Dnevnik last week, citing Podravka’s CEO Martina Dalic.
This means that Podravka will have to boost its supply of raw tomatoes for processing by three to four times in the continental region of the country. In addition to sourcing tomatoes from subcontractors in Istria, Podravka will require an annual supply of 300 hectares for industrial tomato production. The company will also continue to expand its collaboration with subcontractors in the northern continental part of Croatia to ensure a steady supply of raw materials for processing, Dalic added.
In the wake of a challenging year marked by climate change, market instability due to the pandemic and the Ukraine war, and global disruptions in the food industry, there is a clear need for a shift in agriculture. It’s essential to strengthen the connection between agricultural production and the food processing industry, as self-sufficiency is a critical factor for Croatia’s agricultural sector, Dalic explained.
As of the time of publishing this story, the company had not yet responded to an email from SeeNews seeking further information about the factory.
Podravka’s shares closed 1.35% lower at 146 euro on Thursday on the Zagreb bourse.
($ = 0.945 euro)
Source : See News
