Vlade Prančić, Smjeli: In the next two years, we plan to increase prosciutto production by up to 30 percent

When cheaper, low-quality prosciutto is imported, combined with unfair competition and rising meat and energy prices, along with the outbreak of African swine fever, it seems to meat producers that they are fighting against the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The African swine fever that has appeared in Croatia and surrounding countries will certainly affect production, believes Vlade Prančić, director of the Dugopolje company Smjeli, which produces cured meat products, which could lead to a shortage of raw materials and a new wave of price increases for pork.

He adds that despite the increase in meat prices by more than fifty percent, the rise in energy prices, and the shortage of labor, the price of prosciutto and other cured meat products has not drastically increased. However, a correction was inevitable, from 10 to 15 percent, but Prančić claims that this does not affect sales because, when it comes to quality, lovers of cured meat products, especially Dalmatian prosciutto, do not ask about the price.

Excellent prosciutto is a rarity

He expects inflation to last for another two to three years. Perhaps not in such a drastic form as before, he said, but there will still be price increases. Despite everything, cured meat products, where Prančić primarily thinks of Dalmatian prosciutto, are extremely sought after in the domestic market, and in Croatia, demand has been double that of supply for years.

– In Croatia, more than a million pieces of prosciutto are consumed annually, while about 500 thousand are produced. The placement is unquestionable, especially for the protected Dalmatian prosciutto, which received geographical indication protection from the European Union in 2017. Since demand exceeds supply and there is a lack of quality prosciutto in the Croatian market, it is compensated by lower quality imports.

Therefore, along with promoting our protected products, the goal of the Dalmatian Prosciutto Association and the Croatian Prosciutto Cluster, which brings together the most famous producers, is to warn about market anomalies. Regarding exports, the company Smjeli has received inquiries from Sweden, Italy, and France. These three markets have just opened, so we plan to enter them in the next few years. Along with the dominant Croatian market, we have also been present in Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany for the last ten years. In the last five years, we have increased exports by 25 percent, and we plan to raise existing production by 20 to 30 percent in the next two years, which implies additional investments and the company’s expansion, announces Prančić.

Tourism boosts sales

The highly sought-after Dalmatian prosciutto from the company Smjeli has won many domestic and international awards and championship titles. Prančić emphasizes that it is the most awarded Dalmatian prosciutto in Croatia. Smjeli also produces Dalmatian pancetta and Dalmatian pečenica, which are also protected at the EU level and are increasingly sought after in Croatian restaurants and shops. Prančić also offers boneless prosciutto, buđola, dry salami, and dry sausage. However, 70 percent of Smjeli’s production is accounted for by protected Dalmatian prosciutto, 20 percent by protected pancetta and pečenica, and 10 percent by other products.

– This year, despite the challenges, I expect an increase in revenue of five to six percent due to the exceptional tourist season, partly also due to rising prices. Revenues in 2022 were 835,481 euros, after 662,060 euros the year before, in 2021, influenced by an increase in production of about five percent. During that period, we did not have any capital investments in the company.

Gross profit followed revenues and was 186,930 euros last year, compared to 115,080 euros the year before. Our placement is most closely related to the tourist season, and the tourist results in Dalmatia are improving year by year. Tourist seasons were excellent until the 2020 epidemic, when sales fell by about thirty percent. However, even during the corona crisis, I did not complain because top-quality products always find their way to the customer. If you remember, Croatia had a slightly better tourist season than the competition, even though at that time, especially during the lockdown, we were not optimistic at all. Fortunately, the situation changed with the arrival of warmer weather, so we managed to make up for the losses from the beginning of the year in the summer, recalls Prančić.

Following in my father’s and grandfather’s footsteps

From a young age, he was interested in prosciutto production. His knowledge was passed down by his father Mirko and grandfather Stipan, known as Smjeli, after whom the company is named. He says that prosciutti have always been dried in their tavern in Dugopolje, and the best specimens were kept for holidays and special occasions. When he decided to open the company in 1993, he initially offered the service of drying prosciutto and other cured meat products. This lasted five to six years until enough money was earned to purchase raw materials to start prosciutto production.

– In our company, we have combined tradition, experience, knowledge, modern technology, and an ideal climate, and for the last twenty years, we have been producing sought-after delicacies under the motto ‘Like in the old days’. Smjeli was founded with our own funds and partly with a loan. Business was stable in the first years, the loan was repaid on time, and initial capital was earned for the production of cured meat delicacies, which I wanted to engage in from the beginning.

I had a clear vision: to produce top-quality Dalmatian products on which our enogastronomy is based. As the sole founder and owner of the company, I now have seven employees, but although family members are not involved in production, the family has significantly influenced my decision to engage in this business. In our house, tradition has always been respected, and on those foundations, the company Smjeli was established. It is located in the Kutima area in Dugopolje, on the northern side of Mosor, and covers 600 square meters. It consists of a raw material reception area, two salting rooms, two drying rooms, and two storage rooms for finished products, describes Prančić.

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