Royal Catering family company capable of preparing 20,000 meals a day

While plates clank at a luxuriously furnished restaurant in an even more luxurious business building in New Belgrade, the Djuricics speak about their path from 1 to 11 restaurants and from 5 to 130 employees. It took them only 5 years to travel that path, and they say the reason for that is that they have never missed a given chance or said "no" to anybody!

The restaurant Royal Catering is situated on a mezzanine in Sava Business Center. Guests of this restaurant can enjoy the view of hotels Hyatt and Continental, the business building of Delta Holding, and Sava Center.

Aleksandar Djuricic, the director general of the namesake company, as a real gentlemen, lets his wife tell the story.

- We founded the company in 2006. Our wish was to be independent and to work together. We used what we learned at the faculty, as well as the knowledge and experience we gained at previous companies - says Adrijana Djuricic.

Her husband adds that his mother and sister joined the two of them in their new business.

- My wife is in charge of sales and marketing, while I am responsible for finances and procurements. My sister organizes the business and keep books, whereas mother runs the kitchen and production. My mother has a 35-year experience since she worked as chef at numerous embassies worldwide.

(Adrijana Djuricic, Aleksandar Djuricic, Svetlana Djuricic, and Sandra Djuricic Pavlovic)

They opened their first restaurant in YU Business Center in New Belgrade.

- We took a walk and saw catering equipment. We went in to see the space and ask few questions. That is how we learned that the owner wanted that to be his exhibition space, as well as that the equipment be used. That is how everything started. In the beginning, we were cooks, cashiers, drivers, dishwashers, all at the same time. However, the global economic crisis hit our country a year later, causing the sales to drop by 50%. We then decided to focus on express restaurants within closed systems.

In that period they started negotiating with companies Philip Morris in Nis and Metro Cash&Carry in Zemun and Krnjaca.

- There was no request we refused. A cooperation with Philip Morris was initiated at a training. They asked us if we were willing to operate outside Belgrade, that is, in Nis. We passed two phases of selection and won a tender. It was a complicated procedure, but we now prepare meals for 600 employees at that company. We have our restaurants at Metro Cash&Carry shopping centers, and we also cook for the workers of the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS).

- If the crisis continues, we will then use the existing capacities to prepare about 20,000 meals a day. The number of meals we currently prepare on a daily basis ranges between 6,000 and 7,000. Once the crisis is over, we plan to increase our share in the catering market in Belgrade to about 60 percent, as well as to cover all major cities in Serbia, the first of which on our list of priorities is Novi Sad.

Stage, band and 'mahshi'

(restaurant in YU Business Center)

The first interesting request they got was to build a stage and hire a band, which is not a big problem any more. As they say, they are now able to offer the entire catering service for 1,000 to 2,000 people, including food, cutlery, tables, glasses, tablecloths, waiters, music, decoration....

- We also organize reception parties for diplomats, and there is an anecdote related to the Embassy of Egypt - says Adrijana.

- While mom was at the seaside, people from the Embassy of Egypt called and asked us to make 'mahshi', which is a dish similar to our 'sarma' (stuffed cabbage rolls). Since we did not know how it is prepared, we spent the whole night on the phone with mom who was telling us what to do.

The owners of Royal Catering say that they can make any dish, while their guests' favorite dishes are pastry with turkey, Egyptian moussaka with zucchini, chashasho (pork meat with prunes), etc.

- Each restaurant has its own menu, which depends on the structure of guests. Dishes at the restaurant in Nis are prepared with more meat, the menu at the restaurant in Sava Business Center includes fresh sea fish, and we have also recently introduced diet food in our offer. The offer also includes dishes from Asian, Italian, Egyptian, and German cuisine.

Royal Catering also prepares food for private kindergartens.

Movie catering

- We started providing movie catering services by accident. We first worked for Ava Film. Film crews had various requests: food delivery outside the territory of the city, deliveries by night, 24-hour catering, but we are happy to say that we have fulfilled all these requests successfully - Adrijana remembers.

They were also hired by the team that shot the movie Dead Zone in Pancevo, and Andrijana says they worked only by night and that lunch was served between the midnight and 3 AM.

M.K.

Royal QSR d.o.o. Beograd

Metro cash and carry d.o.o. Beograd

Philip Morris operations a.d. Niš

Philip Morris services d.o.o. Beograd

NIS a.d. Novi Sad