Greek stores now offer products from the Republic of Srpska on their shelves for the first time. Prnjavor Company Mladegs Pak has broken the ice, entering the Greek market with the brand Bonito, which includes a wide range of products.

It was all initiated by the Republic of Srpska Representative Office, which brought this company to the Greek market in cooperation with the Ministry of European Integration and International Cooperation.

‘On the sidelines of the recently held Freskon fair in Thessaloniki, we agreed on cooperation and these are the first finished products from the Republic of Srpska to be displayed on the shelves of Greek supermarkets. The importance of this is best illustrated by the fact that not even Serbia has its products in their supermarkets at the moment, in spite of having greater economic exchange with Greece than Srpska’, said the Minister of European Integration and International Cooperation Zlatan Klokić.

To begin with, this Prnjavor company’s food products appeared on the shelves of Masoutis, the best-known and largest supermarket in Greece, which covers the entire country with its 389 stores. The Representation says that they will soon continue the started work.

‘This is certainly just the beginning and in the coming period we plan to open negotiations about product marketing also in other Greek supermarkets. Also, we are proud to be able for the first time to suggest to our people in Greece that they can buy domestic even far from their homeland’, said the Head of the Republic of Srpska Representation in Greece, Jelena Jovanović.

Within the same package, the Austrian Representation agreed on cooperation with the Spar retail chain, whose store network covers the territory of the entire country, thus making these products made in Prnjavor accessible also to Austrians as well as to our citizens living and working in Austria who want to have access to domestic products.

‘In conversations with our citizens, I often hear that the availability of their favorite food brands from the Republic of Srpska, Serbia and the rest of the region means a lot to them. In addition to quality and consumer habits, an important segment is brand’s emotional value. Austrian retail chains are also aware of this fact. We should not forget the statistics or how many citizens from our region live and work in Austria. We can say that the availability of our products brings multiple benefits for both our citizens and Austrian retail chains’, said Mladen Filipović, the Head of the Republic of Srpska Austrian Representation.

For Austria, unlike Greece, this is not the debut of Srpska products at its market. Traditionally, the metallurgy and wood industry sectors achieve the greatest success there, but recent years have seen a growing trend of interest in food products from the Republic of Srpska. The Representation has introduced some brands of domestic soft and alcoholic drinks to Austrian customers, and plans to promote domestic organic products.

Source: Ministry of European Integration and International Cooperation

Photo: Republic of Srpska Representative Office in Greece