Home is best: Last year, AS GROUP's turnover was 240 million KM

Director of Klas, Rusmir Hrvić, emphasizes that to succeed in business, one must always add new value to everything, which should make the company competitive on the market, writes the news agency Patria.  

- Our Bosnian-Herzegovinian identity is very important. We strive to develop the values of the rich treasury of Bosnian-Herzegovinian heritage, because tradition in Bosnia is much more than a word, says Hrvić.

Last year, the total revenue of the AS Group was around 240 million. A total of 2,800 workers were employed.

The largest number of employees is in the food sector, where 1,500 workers are employed, in the textile sector more than 1,000, and in the company Fortitudo in Travnik, 200 new jobs will soon be opened.

- AS GROUP generates the largest part of its total turnover of 150 million KM through the production of finished products. About 15 million KM is generated in the textile sector, while the remaining 75 million KM of turnover is realized through the sale of commercial goods. The entire export refers to the placement of our own brands on foreign markets and reached 15 million KM last year, explains Rusmir Hrvić for Patria.

Hrvić points out that plans for the future are big, and that sales are constantly expanding on existing markets and new markets are being opened.

- Customers on foreign markets, just like on the domestic market, have recognized our competence for Bosnian cuisine and Bosnian coffee. Our noodles, pies, flatbreads, then Bosnian lokum, baklava, hurmašice, but also Zlatna džezva coffee and Oaza water, are increasingly finding buyers on new markets.

We currently export to markets of 25 countries worldwide,  from the nearby region, EU countries and Eastern Europe, through the markets of the Middle East, North America, to the Far East, such as the market of Japan, where we recently placed 20 tons of raspberries, says Hrvić, adding that significant quantities of raspberries were also exported to the very demanding Turkish market.   

There are also plans to open new markets, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.