Leading Balkan food and drink producers and retailers have proposed the establishment of an umbrella brand for products from the region called Adria Balkan, or simply Adria.
The proposal was supported by entrepreneurs such as Emil Tedeschi (owner of Croatian-based food and beverage producers Atlantic Group), Damir Kustrak and Ljerka Puljić (from Croatian food-to-retail consortium Agrokor) and Serbian entrepreneur Miodrag Kostić (owner of agro-industrial conglomerate MK Group), reports Croatian daily Večernji List.
According to Tedeschi, branding is a necessity "because the quantities of wine, olive oil and cheese from our area, and especially packaged products such as the confectionery industry and drinks, are irrelevant on a global scale if we act from a position of a single manufacturer".
He mentioned Italy as a good example of integrated sales of competing producers in specialty shops of the country of origin, adding that a regional approach is the only solution.
The initiative was announced during the Summit100 in Portorož (Slovenia), with the participation of leading entrepreneurs, politicians, bankers and European officials.
The main message that came out of the event was that the region must work together to harness its potential in terms of investment, but also to find its position and not become just a location for subsidiaries of major European companies.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic.
