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Fanon resumes investments after crisis years

<p>Fanonov proizvodni pogon u Petrijancu</p>
Fanonov proizvodni pogon u Petrijancu / Image by: foto

Market leader in animal feed production, Fanon from Petrijanec near Varaždin, is expecting new investments in the coming years that will offer new products. This family company owned by Mario Jarnjak (since last year) and his mother Snježana Jarnjak is also engaged in other production, poultry farming, and storage. It successfully navigated the recent crisis period between various Scylla and Charybdis, maintaining business stability and announcing new investments; until now, they have largely been slowed down due to previous crises.

– There are many plans – says Mario, who is also the director of the company.

Like an artistic soul, he often uses stylistic devices to convey his thoughts, and he says that he believes that if there were a card without limits,’all those ideas would successfully see the light of day’. But one must go step by step, first produce new products, introduce new approaches to production, like those abroad. The reasons are various: climate change, genetics, customer expectations… He says that a lot of time, effort, and resources are invested in research and development. We ask him about the fish feed factory, and he replies that it takes time to arrange a sustainable project. He explains that ‘the first cycle of tests on the digestibility of individual ingredients takes six months’.

Dosing AI

– After those results, one can proceed to other phases of testing. If one of the parameters does not meet expectations, we go back to the beginning. But this forces us to be dynamic, to develop a team that will think outside the box. Thank God, Croatia has many hidden talents that need to be discovered and given space. Three months ago, after almost four years, we received a patent application solution for our Rupiol technology, which is now entering the second phase where we will process oils into soap and fat. Along with the fish feed factory, there is also a new, modern animal feed factory in the form of finished and semi-finished products at a new location in Kneginec – says Jarnjak.

This year, they are starting the first works to increase the capacities of the oil mill in Petrijanec; the investment is worth about five million euros. Plans also include the opening of a new Cibo center (their store) and an agriculture center in Ludbreg, as well as further investment in renewable energy sources.

– We will also renew the vehicle fleet. We have 26 of our own trucks, some of which ‘scream’ to be replaced. Interest rates are a challenge in all of this, but I believe that state insurers in the form of HBOR and HAMAG will be helpful – says Jarnjak.

We are interested in what is happening with artificial intelligence, but he honestly admits that they are still in the phase of getting to know it. However, since the company has, he adds, a respectable IT department, he believes that they will ‘slowly dose it where it will be needed’.

– I like to be cautious in using such tools so that in the end, the human factor remains decisive – he says.

How the company operates and what cards it has up its sleeve, as well as how it is going through generational transition, can be read in the printed and digital edition of Lider.

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