King of the food industry: Bosnia and Herzegovina has the best raspberry in the world

We are now in the phase of strengthening our storage capacities for raspberries, blackberries, mushrooms, and so on. And after that, we are moving on to new projects, said for the Bosnian news agency Patria Rusmir Hrvić, the head of the AS group, which owns the strongest Bosnian food companies Vispak and Klas, as well as many other firms.

Since he took over Vispak in 2010, and this year also Klas, both companies have broken production records, and new markets have been opened from Europe to Arab countries. New jobs have also been created. Perhaps the greatest post-war success for Klas is that a pasta production plant was opened in Srebrenica a few weeks ago.

And Klas has long been developing raspberry plantations in Srebrenica, which Hrvić says could be a chance for hundreds of new jobs. Because the raspberry grown in BiH is so good that it has no competition.

It is simply the best in the world – says Hrvić.

The young man from Tešanj, who is also one of the participants of the Business Forum being held on October 29 and 30 at the Hotel Europe in Sarajevo, is among the largest businessmen in Southeast Europe, showing that with effort and hard work much can be achieved, even successfully doing business in a country whose laws are not exactly favorable to employers.

Of course, it is difficult to do business in an environment that has certain difficulties, as is the case in BiH, but good management can overcome any obstacle – says Hrvić for Patria.
Vispak was privatized in 2001, but only when we bought it in 2010 did Vispak begin to return to the market. The same is true for Klas. The success of a company primarily depends on the people who lead it, and then on all other circumstances – said Hrvić.

The fact that Bosnian Bingo will soon become one of the largest retail chains, and Hrvić's group manages one of the most important food companies in the country, this young manager sees as a great opportunity for BiH.

I agree that Bosnia and Herzegovina must develop and strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises, but first and foremost we need several large companies that will pull those smaller enterprises along – emphasized Hrvić for NAP.

Look, says Hrvić, when Klas started functioning properly, it pulled along about a hundred smaller companies that work for it, from packaging production companies to some others. These are the giants that can strengthen the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina.