Postira, November 27 2013.
SARDINA FROM SMALL POSTIRA TO THE WORLD MARKET
Today, at the new Sardina production plant in Postira at the Island of Brač, journalists were given a tour of
the new production facilities. The new factory is operational now, which justifies the 250 million kunas worth
of investments into its construction and putting into operation the most advanced equipment for fish
processing in the Region. The factory’s production is based on sardines and other small and large pelagic
fish (especially mackerel and tuna), which they catch with their own fishing fleet, as well as on 6000 tons, or
40 millions of fish cans, 500 tons of fish flour, 100 tons of fresh seashells, 100 tons of fish oil and 1500 tons
of high quality farmed fish. Freezing capacity in this new factory amounts to an impressive number of 150
tons per day, and storage capacity is as much as 4000 tons.
General manager of “Sardina”, Mislav Bezmalinović, didn’t hide his satisfaction with this success: “We are
proud for achieving our goal for this year. The factory is now operational, which enables the increase of the
existing production and modernization of our business. We are also close to achieving our next goal, which
is revenue increase from 25 million euros to 35 million euros per year.”
The leaders of the company are well aware that their successful business dealings further commit them to
socially responsible behaviour. In addition to their constant concern for the environment, which, among other
activities, is visible through the energetic efficiency of the new plants, they consider contributing to the
betterment of the community in which they operate to be their duty. Therefore, on this occasion, valuable
donations have been awarded, 50.000 KN for the County League against Cancer - Split, which was received
by its chairperson, Eduard Vrdoljak, PhD, and the same amount for the Children and Young Adults Centre
"Mistral", which was received by its director Edita Maretić.
Sardina Company does not forget its own beginnings, and especially likes to point out that the path to
success was built slowly, systematically, with the dedicated work of its employees. This hard work was
shown through the movie „More modrih lustri“, directed by the recognized journalist and documentary films
maker, Mladen Mateljan, and produced by AVS broadcast
Very demanding food market, or to be more precise, canned fish market, demands constant work on product
quality improvement. In order to meet with these demands, Sardina has created a new brand called Adriatic
Queen. In terms of their well-known and widely recognized recipe, the products of Sardine have not been
changed, but new technologies have improved their quality. New visual identity and name are aimed at
achieving greater attractiveness of the product on the demanding domestic and foreign markets. The brand
Adriatic Queen currently consists of 14 products, ranging from tuna and sardines to hake and mackerels, but
whole other range of products is being prepared as well at this moment (from pâtés to frozen fish).
It is important to state that as much as 70% of the Sardina's products are being launched on foreign markets
(Japan, USA, Canada, Australia, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro). In accordance
to this, it is clear that the name of the brand, Adriatic Queen, is the result of strategic considerations and it is
aimed to communicating the origin of the products, while being well suited for foreign markets at the same
time.
Visual identity of the Sardina Company and Adriatic Queen brand (AQ), as well as package design of two
lines of products was designed by Manufaktura d.o.o., Agency for market communications from Split. Its
director Nelija Rudolfi has explained the process of developing the brand: „ Creating a brand is a long
process, which, as it is usual, began with market research. Results of this research, together with
development guidelines of the costumer, shaped the brand strategy, which is the starting point for further
development of all products. We wanted to achieve a visual identity, which will be a step further in fish can
packaging design and represent a modern, distinctive approach, which will work well on both domestic and
foreign markets. The result of our work is an elegant and up to date brand Adriatic Queen. Approach was
based on contemporary style, clean of all unnecessary elements, and its achromatic base (clean white in
case of the standard line, and black in case of the premium line) highlights the photography, brand and
product name in an impressionable way.”
NOTE TO THE EDITOR
Sardina d.o.o. is a company dealing with fishing, processing and conserving fish, as well as with cultivation of mariculture products at
their breeding sites. With one-century-long tradition of conducting business, Sardine Company represents one of the leading Croatian
companies in the fishing and fish-processing sector, with a strong emphasis on export of their products.
This new factory spreads over 12,136 square meters was opened at the end of the August 2013, and its unique characteristics make it
one of the most modern factories of this kind in Europe. This new factory will contribute to achieving maximum quality of the Sardina
products, while at the same time increasing the energetic efficiency. Superior quality of products is enabled by high-end freezing and
processing technologies. The process of freezing each fish individually, while protecting fish with glazing, avoids the process of
oxidation, which gives us significantly healthier and better products. Extremely low freezing (-47 °C) and preserving temperatures (-28
°C) enable a longer preservation period, without fish loosing anything of its quality. The freezing medium is now CO 2, as opposed to
more usual Freon that is adverse to ozone and ammonium that is toxic, and it enables up to 15% of electrical power savings. Further
energy savings are achieved by quick defrosting in only 15 minutes. Introduction of up-to-date production lines for production of fish oil
and fishmeal will close the production circle of fish processing and enable a complete utilization of the fish that enters the plant, without
creating a potentially harmful waste. The company will start using biomass (wood pellets and chips) with a neutral emission of CO2 to
run the production lines and heat the entire area.
What makes the Sardina Company different from its competition is diversification of their production, which includes a range of products,
from canned fish, fish pâté, marinated products, salted products, frozen fish and fresh aquaculture produce to fishmeal and fish oil. In its
business and manufacturing processes, Sardina Company follows the guidelines of the adopted HACCP system of quality control and
ISO standard, which commit to the highest environmental and quality control standards. In order to ensure continuous compliance with
those standards, the company has established a special organisational unit in charge of quality control, with state of the art laboratory
with equipment for monitoring all of the critical points of production, in compliance to HACCP and ISO quality systems, at its disposal.
The products of Sardina Ltd. Company also hold a Kosher Certificate, and they are also in the process of acquiring the BRC certificate
confirming fulfilment of world standards in food production, as well as of IFS certification, an international certification which guarantees
food quality and safety.
Further information can be found at www.sardina.hr
CONTACT PERSON:
Ivana Burazin
Manufaktura d.o.o.
tel.: 021/315-439
mob.: 098/9832578
e-mail: ivana.burazin@manufaktura.com.hr