"Food Land"
Tradition for the Future
"The loan obtained from the Development Fund of the Republic of Serbia played a crucial role when we were deciding on expanding the production. The loan of 4% interest rate and the grace period of a year cannot be obtained from a commercial bank”, says Vaso Lekić, Executive Director of the Foodland company with limited liability from Belgrade .
Increased global interest for “domestic”, handmade and natural food products represents a significant opportunity for our companies. At the same time, the development of capacities working in this field influences the achievement of numerous objectives set in the Poverty Reduction Strategy: increased economic development of regions with natural resources and potentials for fruit and vegetable production, creation of new jobs since this is a labor-intensive economic branch, growth in exports and better positioning of our country at the labor market. These impacts have been recognized by the Development Fund of the Republic of Serbia when, two years ago, it approved of a loan amounting to CSD 8.5 million to the Food Land company.
Since the opening of the facility at Kopaonik three years ago, wages have risen from 4 to 7 euros, which indicates significant increase of the living standards of the inhabitants living in this region |
The Food Land company with limited liability was established in 1995, with the aim of importing, processing and distributing products characteristic of Mediterranean food. Seeing the raw material potentials which can be found in ecological mountainous regions of Kopaonik and Zlatibor mountains, the Food Land initiated its own production line of traditional Serbian cuisine products in 2003, among which the brand Grannny's Secret stands out. The brand comprises jams, marmalades, compotes and fruit preserves, made of some 10 fruits such as strawberries, apricots, sour cherries, cherries, plums, raspberries, blackberries, figs, wild strawberries, wild blueberries, wild blackberries), pine needles syrup, “ajvar“, etc. All products are prepared in a traditional way: with no additives, preservatives, artificial flavors and colors, in small amounts, cooked on wood stoves and hand-stirred. Although this type of production requires larger costs and is more time-consuming in comparison to industrial mass production, the Foodland employees claim that the quality benefits are worth the efforts.
The intention was to use the loan to increase production capacities, in the first place in the villages of Tr š anovci and Šljivovo in Kopaonik. Several factors contributed to choosing Kopaonik as a location for establishing the production line: cheap labor force and excellent raw material base when it comes to forest fruits and vegetables; excellent microclimate and nature which is untouched in places and represents ideal potential for investing in organic production.
The Šljivovo facilities today employ 40 permanently-employed persons and a large number of season workers (over 300 persons in the purchase period). In this way over 500 persons have been employed, many of whom are elderly and/or fall within the category of persons who have difficulties in finding a job.
The production of the „Bakina tajna“ product increased from 10,000 units in 2003 to 300,000 in 2005, and this year it has already reached over 600,000 jars. From the last year the products have been exported to America , Canada , Australia , France , Switzerland , Belgium , Slovenia and Montenegro under the name „Granny's Secret“. The planned value of exports this year is EUR 400,000, and the aim is to reach exports of EUR 1 million next year.
Plans for the future include the construction of factory worth around EUR 1 million in the Graševci village in Kopaonik, employment of additional 50-60 persons, conquering the markets of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as participating at fairs in Moscow, Paris and Stockholm with the aim of conquering new and expanding the existing markets.
The Development Fund of the Republic of Serbia provides loans on most favorable conditions for programmes of economic and regional development, for stimulating small and medium-sized enterprises, for stimulating the development of artisanship and service occupations, as well as for stimulating the competitiveness and liquidity of national economy, thus directly implementing the recommendations set in the Poverty Reduction Strategy.
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