€20 million invested in pršut production in Croatia in last 5 years

(Photo: Drniš Tourist Board)

ZAGREB, Aug 25 (Hina) –  An official of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), Dragan Kovacevic, has said during the ceremony of opening a pršut festival in Drnis that over the past five years 150 million kuna has been invested in new plants for pršut production in Croatia.

“Although the current pršut production meets less than 50% of the demand in Croatia, the encouraging fact is that in the last five years, 150 million kuna has been invested in new plants for pršut production,” Kovacevic says adding that pršut can be an additional value for the tourist trade.

The two-day international festival in the town in the Dalmatian hinterland was opened on Friday, and apart from the promotion of pršut, also homemade cheese, wines, honey and other local food were put on display during the event.

(Photo: Drniš Tourist Board)

Five years ago, 250,000  pršut hams were produced in Croatia, and currently the annual production is 400,000. The portion of domestic raw material in those final products has risen from 10% to 50%  over the past 10 years. Consumption of pršut has increased by 50% over the past five years.

Four Croatian pršut types protected under European Union’s quality schemes

So far, Drnis, Istrian, Krk and Dalmatian pršuts have been included in the EU register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications. Thea are among the 21 Croatian traditional products protected by this EU register.