Danijel Bertol (Bertol Metal): We Recognized the Opportunity When Shopping Centers Started Arriving in Croatia

In the midst of difficulties lies opportunity. Although Einstein’s well-known phrase may sound like a cliché to some, in the case of the Bertol family and the eponymous craft from Velika Mlaka near Zagreb, it has proven to be quite applicable. In difficult times, of which there have certainly been many during its forty years of existence, new opportunities have somehow managed to open up each time. Or, more precisely, the Bertol family has managed to recognize and seize them.

– When my father passed away in 1997, I was only seventeen years old, and it was a question of what to do with the craft that my parents had created since 1983. My mother did not want to close it because she knew that if she did so at that time, it would be difficult to restart it. And in those difficult moments, a company approached us for the job of fire fittings, which lasted for three years. At that time, I was torn between university and the craft, but in the end, I made those fire fittings myself and dedicated myself to the family craft – said Danijel Bertol, who today runs Bertol Metal, a craft specialized in the production of metal fittings for glass.

The Rise from the Garage

The rise of Bertol Metal, which initially machined metal for other companies, began with the arrival of shopping centers and the more intense construction of glass buildings in Croatia.

– That opened our eyes, and we started our own production of glass fittings. Until then, only my mother, sister, and I worked in the craft, and from 2003, we began to expand and hire people – emphasized Bertol.

An additional step forward occurred thanks to a German company that Bertol says literally pulled them out of the garage. Until then, they had indeed operated in the garage of the family house, but the new partner enabled them to expand into new spaces and enter new markets. And that was at a time when the financial crisis was intensifying in 2009.

– When representatives of that German company came to Croatia and visited their customers, they became interested in who this Bertol was that all the glaziers were mentioning. At that moment, that German company only had tools for glass in its offer, but it wanted to expand the range to include glass fittings, which we were already producing at that time. They visited us, liked our products, and invited me to Germany. Soon we agreed on cooperation and began producing glass fittings under their brand – Bertol recalled.

In addition to opening new markets for them, where their products are now found on glass facades in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Lithuania, and many other European countries, the financing helped them grow and develop faster.

Building Their Own Brand

The craft has thus grown year by year, to today’s 26 employees and around 1.6 million euros in revenue, of which 60 percent is generated from exports. This year, the company expects revenue growth of slightly more than five percent, as has been the case in most previous years. In the first phase, Bertol Metal focused on acquiring the necessary machines, in the second on building its own production facility, and the new goal is to build its own brand, as until now it has mainly marketed its products abroad under the brand of the German partner. In this new phase, a new machine worth 400,000 euros, for which about 60 percent of the funds have been secured thanks to European funds, should help him.

– For the first time, we bought such an expensive machine, but it should open new perspectives and customers for us. It will allow us to differentiate ourselves from the competition in terms of product dimensions, and we will also gain greater accuracy and speed in production. We do not want to go for quantity and mass production, but we are more niche-oriented towards quality products and providing non-standard solutions for various projects. We want to offer better, more sophisticated, and ultimately more expensive products – explained Bertol.

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Production, Bertol Metal Craft

photo Ratko Mavar

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The list of such non-standard projects they have worked on in Croatia is quite long. Their fittings can be found at three Croatian airports, the Svjetlost polyclinic, the glass railings of the Amarin hotel, the glass canopy of the Dubrovnik hotel, and a building in the Netherlands. Recently, Bertol’s fittings have also been used in a glass house at the top of the tallest tower in Gothenburg, and some elements of exclusive stores like Gucci and Burberry have come from Bertol’s production facility.

Developing New Products

In Croatia, they collaborate with numerous glaziers and companies that deal with the installation of glass facades, and abroad, they have mainly received jobs thanks to their German partner, but also through word of mouth, as in the case of the glass house on the tower in Sweden.

– Until now, jobs have mostly come to us, but in the next period, we want to focus more on branding our own products and independently reaching customers abroad. We want to open new markets because with the rising cost of labor in Croatia, one cannot compete solely on price – noted Bertol.

With ongoing work, it is not at all simple to develop new products as it is a long and demanding process.

– After conceptualizing a new product, which is 95 percent of the work, the remaining five percent takes almost as much time because it is necessary to conduct testing, create instructions, and brand the product. Only then does its placement follow. Croatians are used to working for others and often fear taking steps. Simply put, we work and at the same time complain, and we should be a little bolder and not have an inferiority complex. Recently, we exhibited in Milan and saw that we have nothing to be ashamed of – emphasized Bertol.

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Products, Bertol Metal Craft

photo Ratko Mavar

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The craft received incentives for product commercialization, within which the aforementioned machine was purchased, and this drives them to greater marketing activity and participation in fairs. However, until now, they have usually exhibited a very large number of different products, but now they plan to focus on one or two as they believe this will yield better results.

That just one product can bring good results was demonstrated by Bertol Metal during the corona crisis when their screen holder for corona was a real hit.

– That was our best year – said Bertol.

A Good Decision on Construction

And just as they recognized the opportunity for the placement of a new product during those pandemic years, in 2021, just before the significant increase in construction material prices, and fortunately, before the rise in interest rates, they chose the right timing and began building their own building. It was completed in a record seven months. Although they hoped that part of this investment worth around 1.3 million euros would be financed with EU funds, they were two points short in the competition, so they financed the building with a loan instead.

Today, this has proven to be a good decision as they were able to rent part of the excess space to a German-Japanese manufacturer of metal processing machines, which they would not have been able to do if they had received co-financing. However, while they avoided the wave of price increases during construction, the increase in prices and raw materials, other inputs for their products did not bypass them. Material prices have now stabilized, but Bertol believes it will be difficult to return to old levels. More than raw materials, the cost of labor has recently increased significantly, and finding workers is becoming an increasing problem. However, Bertol Metal has not had issues with labor and high employee turnover, but the tense situation in the labor market suggests that it will become increasingly difficult to find adequate labor.

– For now, we have managed to secure workers by training interns from the Velika Gorica school. That is why the average age among us is under thirty. We have been lucky that we have not had to advertise for jobs so far, nor ‘snatch’ workers from other companies. The cost of labor has increased significantly, so those who are already trained have an hourly wage of 9.5 to 10 euros, whereas it was almost half that before – emphasized Bertol, adding that finding quality labor represents a challenge that will certainly become even greater in the future.

Secured Future for Glass

When it comes to the future, Bertol Metal has many plans, but mainly focused on quality rather than quantity.

– The main focus in the next period is creating innovative own products, increasing investment in marketing, and finding new customers. There are also plans to install solar panels on the building to achieve savings and protection from fluctuations in electricity prices. We do not want to expand by increasing the number of people and the size of the building, but rather invest in development and better organization – Bertol outlined his plans.

Although currently, there are no bright signals coming from many markets such as the German or Dutch, and orders are decreasing, Bertol Metal will surely continue to find and seize opportunities as it has so far. After all, glass is still very in, and the spectrum of innovative products in that segment indicates that it will remain so. Smart glass, installing solar panels on glass surfaces, and free-form facades are just some of the innovations that will help further growth in the glass and metal fittings market.