After the “Accelerate 2025” strategy, Nelt Group launches “Ascend 2030” and an investment cycle of EUR 400 million

In the year behind us, Nelt Group projects revenue of EUR 1.5 billion, which is a growth of 9% compared to 2024. After the “Accelerate 2025” strategy, Nelt Group launched “Ascend 2030” and an investment cycle of EUR 400 million, of which more than EUR 30 million has already been invested in logistics infrastructure, production and digitalization.

– Revenue growth of 9% compared to last year is even more impressive if we know that we achieved it in a very challenging external environment. External uncertainty is present in all markets in which we operate, and especially in the Serbian market, which accounts for two-thirds of our revenue. We are also pleased with the fact that every business unit within the Nelt Group (Serbia, Adria, Africa, as well as Nelt brands) is recording revenue growth compared to last year – said Darko Lukic, CEO of Nelt Group at the annual press conference organized by this company.

As he pointed out, social and economic circumstances both here and in the region bring a dose of uncertainty and this is reflected in more cautious consumer habits for both Nelt and the entire industry.

– In order to better define the direction and strategy, we need to know what our destination is. That is why we used this strategic cycle, the first after the successful integration of our distribution business and our production companies, to revise the mission and vision of the Nelt Group. The result of this process is a clearly defined mission and vision. The goal of the new strategy, like the previous one, is accelerated revenue growth. What distinguishes these two strategies is the way we achieve this growth. Previously, this was organic business growth, and in the new strategy, we want to achieve this growth through the acquisition of manufacturing and distribution companies. Another important difference is productivity through the automation of logistics operations and further digitalization of our administrative processes. Of course, there are also new partnerships that will be a significant source of growth in the next five years – Lukic noted.

When it comes to the total planned EUR 400 million of investments in the next five years, these funds will be allocated for new logistics infrastructure, acquisitions, digitalization and strengthening the organization.

– The idea is to balance investments in long-term development and the delivery of short-term goals. We will simplify our sales and logistics processes, automate administrative processes through the use of technology and build the top 10 priority competencies under the clear ownership of the executive board – he added.

The implementation of the SAP S/4HANA system, he announced, will be a key priority when it comes to technology.

– We will also continue to digitize our sales operations through the use of AI in order to further accelerate revenue growth and increase our customer satisfaction. Investments will also be focused on the automation of the supply chain. We will also build the best human resources who should be the source of our competitive advantage. Digitalization will be one of the key priorities in the next five years. So far, we have expanded the use of algorithms for route optimization, for recommended orders, we have also created a new analytical model and algorithm that projects demand and thus significantly helps in the supply chain – said Lukic.

In African markets, the focus, he points out, was on strengthening the organization.

– The positions are now held by colleagues who have extensive experience with developing markets, especially in Africa. We started the investment cycle in Africa by building a new warehouse in the Zambian market, in which we invested more than EUR 5 million. Africa is recording growth above the Nelt Group average this year, 11% compared to the group average of 9%. With this, we have almost tripled our revenues on this continent, from EUR 23 to 60 million. We expect a similar trend throughout the entire Ascend strategy cycle. On top of all that, there are also new partnerships on this continent such as Nestle and Mondelez – Lukic pointed out.

Nenad Miscevic, Vice President for the Serbian Market, pointed out that according to the SeeNews ranking, Nelt Serbia had once again been included in the SEE TOP 100 list of the largest companies in the Southeast Europe region for 2024, as the only domestic private company.

– When we limit it only to Serbia, we are in 9th place. Some might say that 9th place is not a success, but if we look at the company we are in locally, which are companies like NIS, Telekom or Zijin, then we can truly say that Nelt is among the leaders and can win even in a much more demanding competitive environment – he stated.

Miscevic pointed out that Nelt Serbia would exceed sales revenues of over a billion euros for the first time in history.

– That is the magic number we dreamed of. We grew by 7% compared to 2024, but what is important for us when we compare that growth percentage with the expected growth of total retail trade in the Serbian market of 6% shows that we grew faster than the market, which means that we are fulfilling the promise we made to all our partners – said Miscevic.

Speaking about partnerships, he emphasized that the year 2025 had also brought significant projects in both the distribution and logistics segments.

– In this way, we have expanded our partner base and confirmed that Nelt is a continuously desirable, reliable and long-term sustainable partner. There are Jaffa, with whom we have established cooperation in the logistics services segment since the end of 2024, we have continued strategic cooperation with partners from Coca Cola. Revlon has been available in all facilities on the Serbian market through Nelt’s distribution since a month ago. Mogyi from Hungary has also been in Nelt’s portfolio since April this year, and there is also the company Lesaffre, a global leader in the production of products for the baking industry, which will begin a partnership with Nelt in December – reminded Miscevic.

He listed intermodal as one of the pillars of the strategy, which is also known as the “dry port of Serbia” among Nelt’s partners, because 48% of all containers entering Serbia by rail are processed through Nelt’s intermodal terminals.

– As a result, our investments in infrastructure have increased by 5,000 m2 in the last few years, to the current 35,000 m2. With all planned investments, we expect to double these capacities in the next two years. There is also the Nelt market application, which enables complete digitalization of sales and logistics processes with our customers and partners in the traditional shopping segment, which has experienced such an expansion that today we have reached 5,000 different facilities in the traditional trade segment with which we cooperate. The new B2C platform will be available from next year and will cover warehousing, customs clearance and delivery of imported packages and distribution to end users throughout Serbia. Operational tests have been successfully completed – announced Miscevic, noting that the most important investment was certainly investment in people and organization.

Goran Cerovina, Vice President for Adria Markets, pointed out that this year it was crucial to maintain stability, improve efficiency and further strengthen trust.

– The numbers for Nelt Adria show a clear and consistent trend. From 2020 to today, our total revenue in the region has doubled from EUR 200 million to more than EUR 403 million. This figure is not just a trend in some results, but I would say, also our way of working, reliability, distribution and logistics strength and common business culture in all countries in the region. The average growth of 16% compared to 9% at the Nelt Group level further confirms that market integration works, that synergy brings results and that Adria is becoming one of the key pillars of the Nelt Group. This growth is primarily due to people, our teams and our partners who create value together. This year, we have not only preserved the stability of our business, but we have used it as a platform for expanding our portfolio and presence in the region. In Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, North Macedonia, we have established new collaborations with the brands JTI, Chips Way, BFF and Bambi. This once again confirms that our partners value the most that Nelt can follow their growth and that we can respond to all the tasks they set – said Cerovina.

He also referred to the introduction of new models of cooperation and technologies.

– In 2025, we completed three major projects - in Albania, we invested EUR 11 million in a modern distribution center between Tirana and Durres, creating the prerequisite for further expanding our operations in Albania. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we invested an additional EUR 2 million in the expansion of the logistics center in Bijeljina. These investments are part of our strategic cycle. A very important project was the merger of two companies into Nelt MNE, where we united the companies into one modern and digitalized organization with more than 379 employees. In Montenegro, we were also the first to introduce an automated solution for delivering parcels, the so-called parcel machines, a network of 25 locations in 13 cities. This is a strong step forward for e-commerce – emphasized Cerovina.

Sonja Todorova, Vice President of Operations for Nelt Brands, pointed out that Nelt’s Baby Food Factory (BFF) was ending the year with a 5% increase in international revenue and growth in both segments in which they operate - baby food and healthy snack products.

– Growth is driven by our core portfolio as well as innovations such as Nutrino lab energy or Nutrino polenta. BFF justifies its reputation as a market pioneer because it innovates in areas that shape consumer habits and a healthy lifestyle. We have a state-of-the-art factory with more than EUR 50 million in capital investments, and we continue to stimulate growth by investing in capacity and automation. In this fourth quarter alone, we are realizing an additional EUR 11 million in technology and capacity expansion – she said, adding that they were present in more than 28 markets at that moment.

– We plan to further expand into the wider Middle East and Western Europe. Our brands are on the shelves of more than 35 international retail chains and we are striving to expand our presence. Priorities in 2026 include strengthening the core portfolio and innovations in the production area, as well as in business models. In order to connect our international stakeholders, we will launch a unified digital platform on all social networks – Todorova stated, noting that Neoplanta had also recorded revenue growth despite the market stagnation.

– We are starting a new investment cycle in Neoplanta of around EUR 10 million to expand capacity and increase automation in production. In Chips Way, where Nelt is a co-owner, we are focused on local development, as well as local procurement of raw materials – she announced.

Bojana Mucic, Human Resources Director at Nelt Group, reminded that the Nelt family consisted of 5,500 employees in 12 markets at that moment.

– This year, we also invested additional funds in salaries, EUR 6 million, as well as EUR 1.5 million in employee benefits. Of that figure, the largest share is for private health insurance, co-financing of sports activities, New Year’s vouchers... We are a dynamic organization, which you can see from the number of moves, and there are more than 600 of them. This means that our employees have the opportunity to learn, develop, move in the same or another sector or from market to market... The InfoNelt employee connection platform, our Facebook, has also been introduced. In addition to all this, this year we are celebrating the tenth anniversary of our internship program, through which 138 of them have passed, and the best news is that most of them stay with us. This year we have selected 26 young people – said Mucic, who, speaking about the news in this area, mentioned the career website Nelt.

D. A.

Nelt Co d.o.o Beograd

Nelt Group

Nelt Serbia

Nelt Africa

Nelt Adria

Nelt

Darko Lukić

Sonja Todorova

Bojana Mucić

Goran Cerovina

Nenad Miščević

Nelt operations

Ascend 2030