Serbian fruit preparations keep pace with the world - Desing opens Innovation Center in Knjazevac, soon to commission new production line

The web portal eKapija will present the Investment of the Year 2014 Award - Aurea 2015 - in late March. While waiting to see who the new winners will be, we've paid a visit to all the companies that were shortlisted for last year's award to check how their business is doing now.

Knjazevac-based fruit preparations manufacturer Desing has recently returned from one of the world's largest trade fairs of bakery and confectionery in Rimini, Italy. Desing is the only firm from Serbia to get invited to this prestigious event.

Vojislav Nikolic, commercial director of Desing, says to eKapija that they presented 60 products from their portfolio in Rimini, adding that their greatest impression is that they can compete with Italians in terms of both quality and price.

- The year behind us was very difficult due to bad weather that affected the quality of raw materials and ice cream sales as well as because of floods. However, with hard work, we managed to fulfill our plans and goals. This year we have some big projects in the pipeline, so the only thing left to do is to work - says Nikolic.

(Desing Deputy CEO Danka Kolarevic and Zeljko Sertic at the Aurea awards ceremony)

Desing won the Aurea Award for the investment of the year in 2014, which is presented by our web portal. If we look back at last year's operations, we can says the results are very good: the company bought the assets of Knjazevac-based company Dzersi, opened the Innovation Center in that town, and started the assemly of new production line.

By taking over Dzersi, Desing became the owner of processing equipment, agricultural and building land of that company.

- We bought Dzersi's assets to expand our capacity and we're going to use their facilities for our core business. Talks are now underway with a multinational about the placement of our products, fruit preparations for bakery and ice cream industry in particular, in the market of Western Europe.

Installation of a new production line is also in progress, and as REsearch and Development Manager Jovana Tomic explains to us, it is a so-called aseptic bottling line.

Vojislav Nikolic points out that negotiations on product placement in the western market are nearing completion, expressing a hope that Desing will start distributing products in neighboring countries in June.

By developing their company, they also improved the business environment in Knjazevac. Desing has a large number of partners and employs a lot of young people.

This year they expect the first yield from their own cherry plantations covering 20 hectares.

Desing was established in 1992 as a small family firm and has been engaged in the production and distribution of additives ever since, while also developing the product portfolio at the same time. The factory is located in Knjazevac. The turning point for Desing was the moment when they became a supplier of the restaurant chain McDonald's Serbia in 2001.

With the quality of products they also earned the trust of other large companies, such as Frikom, Nestle Adriatic S, Puratos, CSM Medela, Bambi, Costa Coffee, Don Don, Ice Cream Factory, etc.