Agro-Klaster first in Croatia to receive GMO-FREE certificate for free-range eggs

ZAGREB, Sept 7 (Hina) – The Agro-Klaster company from Vinkovci is the first in Croatia to receive the GMO-FREE certificate for free-range eggs, it was said on Monday at a ceremony for the presentation of certificates in Vukovar, where further investment in production was also announced.

The director of the Agro-Klaster company, Zdenko Podolar, said that Agro-Klaster currently comprised 18 sub-contractors and was organising its own free-range egg production facility in Soljani, in which HRK 3.5 million (€465k) was being invested.

He said that the facility in Soljani could open in a month, with a capacity of 6,000 laying hens, but at the beginning, the plan was to keep 4,000, and the production would expand depending on market demand.

The 18 sub-contractors have about 5,000 egg-laying hens, and this year over 700,000 eggs were delivered to the market. However, the production and sales would have been bigger if there had not been problems with the epidemic and the limited tourist season.

The Agro-Klaster company was certified by the Swiss company SGS Adriatica, and the head of certification, Drago Gojic, underscored that the procedure had been carried out in line with the NON-GMO standard, in cooperation with the Donau Soja Organisation.

He added that the Belje Fodder Factory and the Agro-Klaster company were the only two Croatian companies holding the GMO FREE certificate under the Donau Soja Organisation’s standard, valid for the entire Danube region.