[Business Scene] Vukovar Mistral Produces Protective Clothing and Provides All Occupational Safety Services

The founder and director of the Vukovar company Mistral Mario Mlinarić – who shares not only a surname with his more famous cousin Marko but also a love for football and a football career he achieved playing in the First HNL for HNK Vukovar 1991 – likes to say that Mistral is the only company in Croatia that has all complementary services in the field of occupational safety in its portfolio, according to the model 'everything under one roof'.

Mistral is engaged in wholesale and production of work and protective clothing, engineering (performing occupational safety and fire protection tasks), and servicing and selling fire extinguishers.

Although sales and production account for more than 90 percent of revenue, risk assessment, professional training, issuing certificates in occupational safety and fire protection, and servicing fire extinguishers logically complement the range of services.

Mistral generates about 40 percent of its revenue from the production of work clothing for both primary and secondary as well as tertiary sectors (industry, logistics, trade, healthcare institutions… ). 

It has never accepted subcontracting jobs, even in difficult times, always working only for the end customer. Every product Mistral can personalize according to the customer’s requirements, to whom, as Mlinarić says, 'we can offer everything':

– Besides production itself, we have our own preparation and development of new products, so according to the special requirements of the clients, we can create clothing with specific properties, antistatic, windproof, or water-repellent clothing. This form of production is extremely demanding, primarily due to dependence on the human factor. Thus, at the beginning of the year, during the last wave of the coronavirus pandemic, we had as many as 110 days of sick leave. In addition, it can take up to six months from order to payment, so without wholesale, which gives us quick cash turnover, we would not be able to survive – explains Mlinarić, but also emphasizes that they are exclusively distributors from 'the first hand', and that they only work with well-known European companies, such as Uvex, Payperwear, Grisport, and Heckel…

And it is no coincidence that he mentioned in the same sentence that he is 'a child of leather, rubber, and footwear from Borovo', and that he has never worked with China since he knows the production method and the quality of the materials used. Mistral does about 75 percent of its production for private entrepreneurs, while the rest comes from jobs obtained through public sector tenders.

Similarities and differences? – It is simpler and faster to work with private entrepreneurs, he replies – but the public sector sometimes has larger orders.

Mlinarić is 'stretched' on the road of about 300 kilometers between the headquarters with production in Vukovar (where 50 out of a total of 60 employees work) and Zagreb, or the representative office in Rakitje, where he spends several days a week. There are another eight employees there, and one commercial representative is in Rijeka and Split 

The company in Vukovar is also dislocated at four locations, they barely found a location for a new business space, into which they invested from working capital, which is why last year, despite an eight percent increase in revenue (22 million kuna), a significantly lower profit (323 thousand kuna) was reported. They are still waiting for tenders and incentives from the EU and HAMAG-BICRO to be able to install solar panels on the roof, which would cover their electricity needs and thus achieve complete energy independence.

Currently, the biggest problem in business is the lack of qualified labor. Unfortunately, there is no direction for textile workers in the vocational school in Vukovar. Most employees come from suburban areas that gravitate towards Vukovar, which is an additional complication due to poor transport connectivity. The job advertisement at HZZ is constantly open, but there are few applications. There is a lack of trained labor, so they are often forced to train unqualified but interested staff at their own expense.

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Mistral company

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For these reasons, Mistral is becoming increasingly aware that they will also have to turn to importing labor. They are currently working in two shifts, and their capacities are filled, but after relocating to a new location and acquiring new production lines of sewing machines, they will be able to organize single-shift work, so they believe there will be more interested parties.

Director Mlinarić continues to plan investments in personnel, so this year he will hire two more sales representatives in Zagreb. The mid-term plan is to expand activities, maintain stable operations, and increase revenues by about 60 percent over the next five years.

And what is the long-term fate of the company? It is too early to assess whether it will be taken over by the children. For now, Mlinarić is considering motivating employees, and binding those interested and skilled, who are in key positions, with ownership shares.

We also ask about the possibility of selling the company.

– Here I think like any entrepreneur in these demanding and challenging times for all of us – replies the head of Mistral – if no one from the family shows interest in running the company, provided that a quality offer appears, that would also be an option to consider.

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