Raspberry Juice for Poodle, Coffee for Everybody – 2023 Retrospective, Investments in AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INDUSTRY

From vineyards to blueberry plantations to distribution centers – that’s a brief description of the investments in agriculture and food industry which drew the most attention from our readers last year.

You were also interested in the announcement of Atlantic Grupa which said that it planned an investment of over EUR 100 million over the next three years, as well as the investments of Knez Petrol in livestock production.

However, the title of the most unusual story belongs to the factory for the production of juices for dogs – King’s Choice, which opened in Petrovac na Mlavi, the first of its kind in Serbia, and all things considered, in the world as well.

We bring you the list of the ten investments in agriculture and food industry which our readers found the most interesting.

1. Agromarket Logistic Distribution Center Kragujevac

Agromarket Logistic from Kragujevac plans to build a distribution center with a management building and side facilities. The area of the parcel on which the construction is to be done is 31,343 m2 and it is located in the Kragujevac industrial zone.

The primary purpose of the whole complex and the storage-business facility is a goods warehouse for secondary raw materials for agriculture – plant protection products, agricultural mechanization and agricultural tools, hand electric tools, as well as a garden program with a wide range of products.

2. Investments of Atlantic Grupa in Strauss Adriatic

Atlantic Grupa announced in May that it had submitted a binding offer for the purchase of Strauss Adriatic, which Strauss Group officially accepted. The conclusion of the transaction is subject to the prior approval by the Commission for the Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia.

As said, the binding offer is based on the total value of the transaction ("enterprise value") in the amount of EUR 40.5 million, without debt and cash.

3. Knez Petrol Investments in Livestock Production

The company Knezevic Petrol, known for the Knez Petrol gas stations, has bought 583 head of livestock of Poljoprivredno-industrijski kombinat Zemun in bankruptcy, for around RSD 40 million.

The owner of the company, Srdjan Knezevic, stated that, with the purchase of the livestock, he wanted to expand the herd owned by PIK Zemun, which he had rented eight years before.

4. Antonio Carraro Tractor Factory Sremska Mitrovica

The Italian company Antonio Carraro is interested in investing in Sremska Mitrovica, as revealed by Uros Veselinovic, the mayor’s assistant for investments and local economic development.

The new factory, according to him, will produce around 15 types of tractors, and the plan is to have a production and showroom facility, and the investment is worth EUR 8.8 million.

5. Factory for Production of Juices for Dogs King’s Choice Petrovac na Mlavi

In early July, in Petrovac na Mlavi, a unique factory for the production of juices for dogs – King’s Choice – opened, certainly the first such factory in Serbia, and all things considered, in the world as well. Three types of juices for dogs are produced at the factory in Petrovac na Mlavi: raspberry, ananas and blueberry flavored juices.

The product was first presented in May at the Zumark fair in Bologna, and according to Nikola Gakovic, the sales manager at the company, distributors worldwide (USA, China, Russia) have shown an interest in their product.

6. Atlantic Stark – New Production and Storage Capacities

Atlantic Grupa announced at the end of last year that, in the market of Serbia, it planned an investment of over EUR 100 million over the next three years. As pointed out, this investment cycle has already started and investments of over EUR 15 million have been realized so far. The majority of said investments, nearly EUR 53 million, pertains to production and logistics capacities in Atlantic Stark, primarily the new Smoki factory, which is the biggest individual investment of Atlantic Grupa.

Among the planned investments is the planned acquisition of Strauss Adriatic and an investment of over EUR 40 million, conditioned on the approval of the Commission for Protection of Competition, which procedure is still in progress, it was announced at the end of last year.

7. Omega Oil Facility of Cold-Pressed Oils

From a production launched in one room within a house to a facility with a cooling plant of around 150 square meters – that is the road that Ana Lucev and Zeljko Nicin have traveled. They jointly founded and run Omega Oil, which produces cold-pressed oils, plant-based butters and protein flours.

As they pointed out, their idea was to form a small family business which would keep the family together.

8. Zlatna Bobica Plantation Divcibare

At the foot of Divcibare, in the Mionica area, is a plantation of four hectares, where Vanja and Stefan Nastasijevic, fans of high-quality food, planted tall-bush blueberries.

For our portal, they revealed that hand-picked fruits come from the plantations, but also natural jams and juices. A part of the fresh goods is exported to the European and Russian markets, whereas the other part is sold in Serbia as fresh and frozen raspberries.

9. Ledo Investments in Frikom

Ledo’s dough production line is moving from Zagreb to a new location in Serbia, more precisely, to Frikom, whose owner is also Nomad Foods, it was announced at the end of last year.

The reason for the moving of the dough production line, as reported before, is the lack of space for four machines, worth EUR 4 million, which will produce the King brand of ice cream. They will be installed in 2024 precisely in the spot where the dough line is located, Ledo announced.

10. Highest Prokupac Vineyard in Serbia

At the Cokot Winery, in the village of Starci, at an altitude of 620 meters, featuring one of the most beautiful views to the entire Aleksandrovac, on three hectares, probably the highest Prokopac vineyard in Serbia is being established, and certainly the highest vineyard planned to be organic from the very start. In three years, the raw ingredient for the Experiment and Radovan Prokupac 100% wines will start coming from there.

We presented the 10 investments which drew the most attention from our readers when it comes to agriculture and food industry. Make sure to take a look at the full list HERE.

We invite you to take a look at the investments which marked the year 2023 in the fields of TRANSPORTATION, INDUSTRY, PUBLIC UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENERGY, REAL ESTATE, TOURISM, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION, TRADE CENTERS, SPORTS and HEALTHCARE.

Agromarket Logistic doo Kragujevac

Atlantic Brands doo Beograd

Strauss Adriatic d.o.o. Šimanovci

KNEŽEVIĆ-PETROL DOO, BEOGRAD (BORČA)

Knez Petrol d.o.o. Zemun

Antonio Carraro doo Beograd

Atlantic Štark d.o.o. Beograd

Frikom d.o.o. Beograd

Podrum Čokot

Nomad Foods

Ledo

Srđan Knežević

Uroš Veselinović

Nikola Gaković

Ana Lučev

Željko Nićin

distribution center Kragujevac

Čokot winery

Radovan Prokupac

investments in agriculture