[Business Scene] AMP from Lopatinec Plans to Export Biodegradable Film Packaging to Western Europe

Recently, the family company AMP from Lopatinec (municipality  of Sveti Juraj na Bregu) celebrated 30 years of existence. During this time, judging by customer statements on their website, it has become a respectable company, although it still falls under the category of small businesses with 16 employees. Branko Klobučarić is the owner and director of the company, where his wife Mirjana and son Nikola are also employed.

Lopatinec is right on the border with Slovenia. One immediately thinks that the Klobučarić family has a hard time with staffing because the proximity to Slovenia leaves no worker indifferent. Especially since Austria is not far away, as they say, and many find it hard to resist its call. Indeed, Klobučarić states that there are employment problems due to a lack of skilled workers for production, and they must train flexographic workers themselves because there is no education for that profession in Croatia.

Despite these challenges, as well as others that have affected the global economy, this small company with 16 employees grows every year. For example, in 2017, its revenue was five million kuna, while last year it achieved slightly over eight million kuna, which is about ten percent more than in 2020, the year of the lockdown. Even that year, revenue growth was recorded at 7.3 million kuna, which is 1.2 million kuna more than in 2019. The share of exports in revenue last year was 21 percent and is also on the rise, exporting to Slovenia, Austria, and Hungary.

– Our plan is to expand sales to the area of Western Europe, while ensuring conditions for the production of biodegradable film packaging – says Klobučarić.

Net profit has not been significant all these years. Last year, for example, it amounted to 244 thousand kuna. The company produces packaging materials from single-layer, double-layer, and triple-layer films used primarily for packaging food products. It supplies packaging materials in the form of formed bags or printed films in rolls for automatic packaging, depending on customer needs. So far, they have developed production programs for packaging materials or bags for packaging teas, coffee, spices, pasta, as well as packaging for frozen and/or vacuum-packed and fresh food products. They do business with many large companies in Croatia and abroad.

– In the last two years, as well as in previous years, our business has been in constant growth, both in terms of production volume and revenue. AMP regularly invests in its own capacities and improving production quality to meet the growing needs of our business partners, which ensures us constant and quality growth – says Klobučarić.

Four years ago, they invested in the construction of a new production-business facility covering over 800 square meters in the Brezje entrepreneurial zone and the procurement of new machines. The investment value was 5.3 million kuna. The business zone is located near their house, where they previously had a facility. In the following year, 2019, they also invested 2.5 million kuna to increase production capacity. Despite the rising costs of projects due to the current global situation, AMP plans a new investment in expanding the production part of the facility and procuring additional machines worth five million kuna.

They report that they have not had major difficulties in supplying raw materials. It has not been easy, but they say they have overcome this thanks to business partners, especially customers who have shown understanding and adapted to the new conditions. However, they say that first the pandemic and then the Ukrainian crisis caused, as with all other companies, a sharp increase in input costs through the prices of raw materials and energy.

Although AMP has proven to be a resilient company in the last two years when we were hit by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, in the upcoming period, the rise in energy and raw material costs will be the biggest problem for such a small company, of which the owner is aware, so it is certain that they are not sitting idly by. But like everyone else, they too, and the experience from the past period as well as the fact that the crisis can no longer surprise them are a boost for the company from Lopatinec.

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