Serbian ‘King of Meat’ is actually the ‘King of Chicken’

Only in terms of chicken meat production is Matijević larger than the largest Croatian producers, but in livestock farming, he is much smaller than them.

The Serbian ‘King of Meat’ Petar Matijević, who recently purchased two agricultural cooperatives in Croatia – Negoslavci and Jankovci – could primarily be called the ‘King of Chicken Meat’ when compared to other meat producers. As stated by the Matijević Meat Industry, their annual production of chicken meat is 3.5 million pieces, or nine thousand tons of chicken. This is twice as much as the largest Croatian producer, Varaždin’s Koka (part of Vindija), which raises 1.85 million chicks per year. Pipo Čakovec raises 670 thousand chicks annually, and the third Croatian producer is Valipile with 256 thousand raised chicks, meaning that the total production of chicken meat by the three largest Croatian companies is only three-quarters of MI Matijević’s production.

When it comes to pig meat fattening, the situation is different. Matijević is still far from Agrokor, which raises 380 thousand pigs annually through its several companies. The Novi Sad company can boast of ‘only’ 100 thousand pigs per year. The other two strongest Croatian companies are also stronger than MI Matijević. Thus, the Žito group of Marko Pipunić raises 150 thousand pigs annually, but it should be noted that his plans due to a large prosciutto production project are estimated at 200 thousand pigs, even 250 thousand that Pipunić could reach in a few years.

Slavonski Brod’s Merkur, owned by Đuro Vučetić, raises 130 thousand pigs annually, but perhaps MI Matijević’s advantage over that company is that Merkur imports all its piglets and fattens them in Croatia, meaning there is no closed cycle of breeding.

In the breeding of cattle and bulls, the Serbian ‘king’ with his nearly five thousand heads is not ahead of Croatian breeders. Thus, Belje, as the largest Croatian breeder, has 22 thousand heads, Zvonko Širjan near Križevci has 12 thousand heads, and Stočarstvo Rajić near Bjelovar, owned by Toni Raić, has six thousand heads.
The Serbian entrepreneur originally from Knin certainly ranks among the largest meat producers in this region, but still, excluding chicken meat production, he is far from Croatian producers. He mainly markets his production in Serbia and a little in BiH and Macedonia. However, his acquisitions of two Croatian agricultural cooperatives could also indicate his interest in the EU market, which could mean an increase in production.