Farmwife with unique ideas

Transcription

1 Farmwife with unique ideas Pic. 1 The owner of the farm with her chocolate delicacy Source: Ing. Radmila Drevanova comes from the village of Tekovske Luzany. She studied at the Faculty of National Economy at University of Economy in Bratislava. After getting her University degree, she did not quite know in which industry she wants to operate.eventually, together with her partner Vladimir Trnka, she plung into confectionary manufacturing and agriculture. Company Profile Radmila with her partner came to the hamlet near the village of Kolta in 2001 to start the business with fruits. The idea to produce cherries in chocolate came a bit later. It was already in 2005 when they set up an operation for producing chocolate confectionary, mostly cherries and plums in chocolate. Thanks to the high quality of the products the company gradually built up good image and gained trust from many customers. Their goal to produce unique and high quality manufactured products was accomplished after a few years of development. This resulted also in patented recipes and exact workflow methods. Since the high quality raw material for cherries and plums in chocolate are produced at their hamlet, it is also the production area that is situated here, in the fruit grove. Radmila and her partner call it Vladalmas - Dive jablko (which means Vladalmas Wild Apple). The production is mainly based on subtle manual work. The high quality of the products is ensured by qualified workers. The strategic goal of the company was to succeed on a local as well as foreign market. This goal was accomplished in quite a short time. Thanks to the creative ideas of Ing. Radmila Drevanova, the almost forgotten hamlet gradually changed to a prosperous farm. Her dedication and strong will have also facilitated this success. Her goal now is to buy the soil in stages. Another success of hers is that she offers jobs in a region with high unemployment rates. During the season of fruit gathering, she employs 25 to 30 people, then 15 more in confectionery production and even 6 more in the starting animal husbandry. Radmila wants to be creative and indeed she knows how to do it. In the past, Slovakia became known for home made canard, goose meat or Easter lamb but today, Radmila knows how to earn money with it.

2 Confectionery Production Source: Not only chocolate rabbit or chocolate eggs belong to the best Easter delicacy now it is also the cherries on chocolate. Manually dipped delicacies are unique on the European market. The strictly guarded production method is known only by 7 small family companies in Europe. One of them resides in Slovakia, just a few kilometres from the village of Kolta. This unique product with the brand Radmilla goes from the production place of a young businesswoman, from the fruit grove Vadalmas Dive jablko to the tables of the richest people and companies in the world. The idea of cherries in chocolate comes from Ing. Radmila Drevanova. This venturesome young woman with confectionery feeling has founded the chocolate factory in 2005 right at the fruit grove near the village Kolta. Radmila studied Economics at a University and decided to make business with fruit after she met Vladimir Trnka. He had travelled around Western Europe to gather knowledge about the challenging confectionery production. Together, they have rented 40 ha of soil with a fruit grove, southern acacia forest and an old farmstead in the middle. They moved there and started to grow cherries. In the beginning, they thought it was too demanding for them. They needed to find out what the best season for gathering cherries with stems is, in how strong alcohol to macerate the cherries and how to manage the technique of dipping the fruit in fondant and chocolate mass. It took more than two years until Radmila created a team of 15 dedicated confectioners. You cannot dip the cherry in the chocolate too long or too short. If the confectioner is late even for 2 seconds, the praline has a thicker layer of chocolate and is different from the other pralines. The customers in hotels and restaurants in France, Germany, Austria and Arabic Emirates, however, require uniformity despite the fact that the products are manufactured. Radmila and Vladimir consider for the biggest success the day of the international exhibition in Paris, when they got visited by the director of a worldwide chocolate factory. He acknowledged that Radmilla has overcome their products. The director gave them advice to pay attention to the package as well. After their return, Radmila and Vladimir contacted the best designers in Slovakia and the outcome was spectacular. This package is going to compete against the strongest on the market. Besides cherries in chocolate, she also started to produce plums in chocolate. It is very skilful to dip halved plums in chocolate and then by a machine make them look like they are the whole plum. While a good confectioner can produce 400 cherries in one work shift, she can produce only 150 to 180 plums in one shift (which is not even one half of the amount of cherries). It is very unusual for a confectionery production to reside directly at the fruit grove. Mostly, the farmers sell the gathered fruit or store them in air-conditioned stock houses. Radmila decided to valorise the price of the fruit by producing chocolate delicacy of it. The products Cherries in Chocolate and Plums in Chocolate belong to the category of exclusive products. The quality of the final product strongly depends on the quality of the raw materials. That's why the quality of the used chocolaty is closely monitored it needs to

3 contain 60 to 70 % of cocoa butter. The product's shelf life is 6 months under storage conditions. At the time, you can get luxurious gift packaging of 1, 6 and 10 pieces. They can produce up to 2000 dipped fruit in one day. The package of 12 cherries costs 7.90, the same package of plums costs 8.70 and combined package costs Cherries in Chocolate Filled praline cherry with stem dipped in fondant mass and dark chocolate. High quality cherries from Radmila s own production gathered together with stems are macerated for 8 months in alcohol and then are manufactured to final products. Plums in Chocolate Filled praline plum dipped in fondant mass and dark chocolate. High quality plums from Radmila s own production gathered together with stems are macerated for 8 months in alcohol and then are manufactured to final products. Pic. 2 Plums in Chocolate: the process of drying of chocolate after dipping Source: "I am not aware that somebody in Slovakia or in neighbouring countries would completely manufacture this delicacy. Ing. Radmila Drevanova It took them 4 years until the business partners Ing. Radmila Drevanova and her boygriend Vladimir Trnka discovered the right production process. All the wasted cherries, hundreds hours of trying, practicing and working hard were worth it. The most important things are the amount of alcohol, ensuring that the stem would hold together with the fruit and then the dipping. Ing. Radmila Drevanova The cherries are gathered together with stems and leaves. The washed cherries are put in 4-litre jars and are imbed in a dilution with exact content of alcohol. By the time of 8 months they get soaked by the alcohol up to the stone. Later they are dipped in fondant mass and at the end they are dipped in the dark chocolate.

4 Pic. 3 Gathered cherries with leaves Pic. 4 Sorting, washing and putting into 4-litre jars Source: Pic. 5 Cherries imbed in the dilution with alcohol Pic. 6 Dipping the plums in chocolate Source: Pic. 7 Final product: Cherries in Chocolate Pic. 8 Cherries in the new gift package Source: The busiest period is the one before Christmas and Easter. Besides the 5 full time employees they need to hire several part-time workers at this time. The products are not sold in the shops or stores but at sweetshops for the demanding clients and at the top quality hotels. The first shipment of Cherries in Chocolate abroad was to France. At this time, the cherries are exported to Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, France and Dubai. The package of 10 cherries is sold for 4. Breeding the farm animals To make the farm even more prosperous, Radmila started to occupy herself with animal husbandry as well. Today, they breed up to 2500 geese, 500 ducks, turkeys, sheep and pigs. Lately, they started to breed a French species of goose maxi sepalm specially bred for large and high quality liver. The geese are fed with corn, wheat and barley. Moreover, they are fed on fresh grass. They are produced in bio quality. They grow the corn just outside the farm, to ensure the high quality. Despite the growing production and growing expenses, they never used any money from European Union. Nevertheless, they asked for a financial help in order to buy top technology

5 for feeding the geese. Now, it is almost impossible to do that manually, considering the number of geese and the frequency of feeding (4 times a day). Lately, they have started to breed pigs in bio quality as well. After weaning, the pigs are fed on green grass. They are not fed with feedstuff, which is highly appreciated by still growing numbers of consumers. The animals are slaughtered in a new-built abattoir near the village Kolta. Pic. 9 Farmwife with her geese Source: The farms may be successful as well. In Slovenka, vol. 62, 2009, n. 31, p Epilogue Pic. 10 Advertisement for selling corn-fed geese Source: Vykŕmené husi. In Dúbravský spravodajca. Mesačník NČ Bratislava, vol. 3., July August 2009, n. 7 8, p. 3. The farm has gained a certificate from Bell/Nowamann Int. company. At the exposition Danubius Gastro 2009, which took place in January 2009 in Bratislava, the ministry of agriculture awarded Radmila with the quality mark Znacka kvality SK for her Cherries in Chocolate.

6 Pic. 10 The evidence of the quality mark Znacka kvality SK Source: Marketing inspiration from this successful example: The success may be achieved by correctly chosen strategy, which is aimed at the correct type of customer. Even among strong competition in domestic and foreign market, it is the unique and special product, which wins. The package sells the product this phrase had been verified over and over in the past. Always bear in mind the importance of the package. To produce high quality products means you have to use only high quality raw materials and processes throughout the production. Diversification of production is one of the ways to counteract the risk of business. Even a high price of a product does not necessarily hinder the business if the product is unique, has a big added value, attractive package and rightly chosen segment. At international exhibitions and fairs you may get to know your competitors, you may introduce your product and gain information about current world wide trends in your business area. Even the first participation can bring important contacts and first orders. The success of the company is dependent on the high quality employees, who are dedicated to what they are doing.

7 Sources: Greš, J Mňam, jednoducho neodoláte. In Slovenka, vol. 62, 2009, n. 28, p Greš, J Aj farmy môžu byť úspešné. In Slovenka, vol. 62, 2009, n. 31, p Vykŕmené husi. In Dúbravský spravodajca. Mesačník NČ Bratislava, vol. 3., July August 2009, n. 7 8, p [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Author: prof. Ing. Ľudmila Nagyová, PhD. Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra Faculty of Economics and Management Department of Marketing Tr. A. Hlinku Nitra, Slovakia Ludmila.Nagyová@fem.uniag.sk