Composed of the highest quality varieties, the unique orchard, which stretches over 28 hectares, is visited daily by the executive director Miloš Golubović.
“The company “Naše voće” was founded in 2017 with the plan to manage the project of establishing a multi-year intensive apple plantation. It is a technology of dense planting, originally from Italy, which is reflected in the anti-hail system. The company currently has 12 full-time employees, and just today, while the harvest is going on, we have 30 seasonal workers on the farm”, says Golubović.
In the process of developing significant capital, the leaders of the company “Naše voće” entrusted the role of a strategic partner to the Investment and Development Fund (IDF), which, through the supported investment, contributed to the increase in the number of employees.
“In addition to the primary production of apples, we have recently been engaged in processing. IRF has supported the majority, that is, the largest part of the volume of our investment so far. We have built a facility for storing and processing fruit, in which a line for juicing has been installed. Soon, through the credit line that is currently active within the IPARD application, we will provide a line for the production of jams and marmalades. By mid-November, we expect it to be installed. Effectively, with the help of IRF, we are developing both primary production and processing”, said director Golubović.
Every year, hardworking visionaries were dedicated to expanding the capacity of the estate, so their impressive orchard today has 100,000 seedlings.
“Not only would we recommend, but we recommend IRF, especially to interested, potential investors who would invest in this activity. The cooperation was excellent, very transparent and we have nothing but words of praise. What we perceive as the advantages of the Fund compared to commercial banks are the interest rates, which are fixed at IRF, compared to the interest rates of other banks, which have been variable for years. This can be seen especially now, in these years”, Golubović pointed out.
The long-term development of the company is the direction that “Naše voće” exclusively follows in its business intention, and in order for it to continue the trend of profitability, it is necessary to think carefully about each subsequent step.
“We are currently planting another 7 hectares and we will have some 35 hectares of plantings in the spring of next year. This will complete the first phase of the project, which is the establishment of an orchard on our own property. The second phase sub-divided the facility for storing and processing fruit. The project is faithfully followed by support in primary production and processing. We have a consultant who teaches us how certain trends, especially in fruit processing, appear on our market. We recently had a colleague who is a food technologist, who will deal with managing the fruit processing process. The ambition is to expand in the coming period our range”, concluded Golubović, Analitika writes.
