Opg Ivo Grgić

With us, quality isn't expensive

In the opinion of a great many customers, Grgić blackberry wine is among the finest blackberry wines available. A large number of satisfied customers return time and again, specifically asking for our wine. The reason surely lies in the quality achieved exclusively through controlled production and a carefully selected range of blackberry varieties used in the process. Many are skeptical when they see on the shelves that the price of Grgić blackberry wine is far more affordable than that of other producers. The motivation behind setting this price lies in our desire to offer customers quality (nature) in an accessible way.  

In a few sentences, we would like to describe our (family) motives for entering agricultural production, as well as our decision to grow blackberries and launch a line of blackberry products. So that readers can understand our motivations, I will touch upon the plans my wife Mirjana and I had for our family. Ever since our happy wedding (even though it took place during wartime, in 1992 to be precise) and responsible family planning, where we decided to welcome at least four children, we began thinking about ways to generate an income for such a large family. As a married couple, and later as a family that nurtures, preserves, and upholds core values—a healthy family, raising children, and living off one's own labour—our plans and activities were focused on achieving that goal. 

We pay great attention to raising our six children. Throughout their primary school education and upbringing at school, along with trends adopted from their peers, we felt a prevailing perception forming that vegetables originate and grow on supermarket shelves. As a couple deeply in love with nature and natural wealth, and fully mindful of the fundamental values in our lives, the idea of launching agricultural production was born. The primary motives for agricultural production were a love of nature (which we wanted to pass on to our children), teaching them that food can be produced on the land, and that one can (and must) live off one's own labour.

Establishment and development of the farm

By analysing the state of Croatian agriculture and observing that most agricultural producers make the very same mistake—producing raw materials which they then try to sell, usually to a third party (or wholesalers), thereby placing themselves in a position to be exploited (whether regarding the purchase price or payment terms) or defrauded by these third parties. Our future production needed to be fully integrated—meaning that after producing the raw material, we would process it into a finished product to offer to the market.. Only production organized in this way stands a chance of success.

The family farm – IVO GRGIĆ was founded in 2004. We planted our first blackberry seedlings a year before establishing the farm. 

The blackberry plantation is located right alongside the main Osijek-Valpovo road. West of the village of Petrijevci, on a plot of approx. 15000 m2, there are around 4000 blackberry bushes. Our varietal selection includes the following blackberry varieties: Thornfree 50%, Dirksten Thornless 20%, Hull Thornless 20%, and Čačanska bestrna 10%.

Since July 2005, the farm has been entered in the register of organic producers. In our modest experience, this varietal selection gives our blackberry wine its distinctive taste and aroma.

Production and development opportunities

The annual blackberry yield varies depending on numerous factors affecting production. In these ten or so years of production, the blackberry yield has ranged from 1500 kg to a record 12500 kg. A portion of the harvest is sold fresh, up to 10 % of total production, part of the raw material is used for producing blackberry jam, and part for blackberry juice. The largest share of the yield is used to produce blackberry wine. The production process itself takes place at the processing facility in Petrijevci, while the aging and conditioning of the wine is carried out in the cellar premises located in Osijek, Zrmanjska 17.

When speaking of development opportunities, we are considering the purchase of specialised equipment for producing juice and jam, for which the market shows great interest. We are also considering joining forces with other producers in this line of work to create a unified brand.

Although Grgić blackberry wine can be found on the shelves of retail chains Metro and Konzum (specifically Superkonzum stores across Slavonia and all of Croatia), as well as in Tripolski pharmacies, sales challenges persist. Our production capacity is far greater than the quantity of products we manage to sell on the market. 

Health in a bottle of wine

In 2005, we produced our first fine drop of wine. We entrusted the production and maturation of the young wine to top oenologists, who helped educate and train the farm owner for this complex task.  Over the first few years, the wine underwent refinements in production, both in the blending of different blackberry varieties and in the taste itself. 

Today, after a trial period of production combined with expert guidance from top oenologists and invaluable feedback from customers, we have achieved a highly distinctive, sweet fruit wine flavour with delicate acidity and an exquisite aroma that is clearly felt and recognised when tasting our wine.