Podravka and Aleva as strategic partners - Joint factory in Novi Knezevac

Croatia's Podravka and Aleva from Novi Knezevac may enter into strategic partnership. As Blic daily learns and the Aleva management confirms, both companies are interested in cooperation in the procurement of raw materials and joint production, while Podravka would also like to become a co-owner of Aleva's new factory.

The headquarters of Podravka in Koprivnica has recently been visited by Aleva's expert team led by owner Hristivoje Milosevic. Before that, the management of the Croatian company visited Novi Knezevac, and it is almost for certain that a result of the talks will be cooperation, established with the aim of fighting multinational competition such as the Swiss company Nestle, which has recently acquired Centroproizvod.

- We did not talk about the sale of Aleva to Podravka. This company is interested in acquiring a stake in the factory we currently build, but we did not discuss details. We spoke about the possibility that Podravka, which is present in the markets in Austria, Germany, Romania and Poland, starts exporting our paprika to Europe. We would also sell them raw materials, onion, paprika, and parsnip. One of the subjects of our talks was also the production of goods by Aleva for sale under the Podravka brand - Milosevic told Blic.

- At several meetings with Aleva we talked, among the rest, about possible cooperation, particularly in the sales, distribution and procurement of raw material. These talks are still underway and we plan new meetings in the future. Both companies have a long tradition and famous brands, while our product portfolios even match in certain segments - Dijana Jendrasinkin of Podravka explained for Blic.

Aleva is the most famous for its spice paprika, while its whole assortment is complementary to the one of Podravka - dried vegetables, condiments, soups, puddings, spices.

Aleva employs about 300 people, while Podravka has 6,570 employees. This Croatian company sells 14 products in Serbia.

Aleva turned a EUR 1.7 million profit last year, while Podravka's profit in 2010 exceeded EUR 11 million. Aleva was privatized in 2005 and it now operates as part of Flory Trading Group, which also has a factory of kids food.

The media in Croatia write that Podravka has also started negotiating with the owners of Bambi.