Zoran Daljević, CEO Of The Atlantic Grupa Representative Office Serbia

We will focus on the further development and strengthening of key categories in the food and beverage segment, strengthening distribution capacities and digital transformation, while also adapting to current business conditions, as is now the case with the pandemic, announces Mr. Daljević.

You recorded sales revenue growth of 6.6 percent, at almost 169 million euros, in the first quarter of this year. Isn’t that a huge success considering all the restrictive measures and restrictions caused by the global pandemic?

– It is indeed a great success, because in the context of the overall economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the strategy and operations of Atlantic Grupa showed a high level of stability during the first six months of this year. In the first quarter we recorded an increase in revenue, and in the first half of the year – with sales revenues exceeding 327 million euros – we recorded a minimal decline of just 0.9%.

It has been shown that the Atlantic Grupa, thanks to its diversified portfolio of strong brands, was highly resilient to the crisis caused by the pandemic. The optimization of business processes, a stable financial position and highquality strategic management enabled us to maintain job security even under the conditions of teleworking and challenging work on the ground, and also enabled us to achieve business results with minimal negative consequences.

We are especially proud of the fact that, with all the measures to protect our employees, we maintained a good epidemiological situation in the company, despite production operations having worked continuously.

Thanks to a stable financial position, we were able to help the community with a donation of 4.6 million euros to fight the pandemic in all key markets.

Thanks to a stable financial position, we were able to help the community with a donation of 4.6 million euros to fight the pandemic in all key markets

Atlantic Grupa today operates in all countries of the region and has some of the most recognised brands, and you’ve manage to maintain stable operations despite the crisis. How would you interpret your successes?

– It is precisely this conglomeration of renowned brands and excellent diversification of production capacities in the region, along with our own distribution system, that represent the key to our success. Apart from that, our business system’s driver is the philosophy of innovation and the continuous improvement of all processes, which implies investing in every segment of operations – from production, procurement, development and market research, to communication with our customers and investing in people as a key factor of our success.

Our focus is on being regional leaders in the categories in which we have renowned brands, which provides a good foundation for further internationalization. One example is “Smoki”, which is a leader in the corn flips category in the region and represents one of the main pillars of the company. The essence is that, in relation to the further development of brands and an ambitious approach, we act with maximum rationality and social responsibility on every market.

What are the strategic priorities of Atlantic Grupa and how difficult is it at present to develop a business plan for 2021 and the years to come?

– We will continue investing in our people, core brands and business practices, and our goal is to raise the efficiency of internal business processes, transparency and the timeliness of market feedback, as well as to establish best business practices at the level of the entire company. Consumers remain in our focus, and our plan is to offer them new products of an even better quality, to expand our position on the markets where we are already present, but also to conquer new ones. All of this also implies openness to new acquisitions, provided the right opportunity arises.