In order to achieve this, as well as increase the capacity of its hatchery in Mala Lamjana and its fish processing facilities, Cromaris is planning to invest HRK 400 million (€54 million) in the coming five years, according to senior company representatives. This would be a marked increase on an earlier plan to allocate HRK 370 million (€49.95 million) to expand its capacities.
The company produces sea bream, sea bass, mussels and flat oysters, and processes tuna, sardines, mackerel and hake.
Goran Markulin, the chief executive of Cromaris, told local daily Zadarski List that the company is currently “looking for new sources of growth” in the foreign markets. The fish farmer and processor exports its products to a number of European countries, and Italy is its largest foreign market.
Cromaris has recently added two new fish farms, Kudiza and Zman, to its existing five facilities. The company says that both farms were equipped with high-end automatic feeding systems and automatic net cleaners. The investments are part of plans by Cromaris to increase its annual production of sea bream and sea bass from 7,000 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes per year, the firm said.
Set up in 2009, the company is part of Adris, a multi-industry conglomerate. Over the past years, the group has invested about HRK 745 million (€100.57 million) with the aim to develop Cromaris’ market position, enabling the fish farmer and processor to report an average annual sales growth of 26%.
Last year, Cromaris reported sales of some 6,889 tonnes of fish and seafood which translated into revenues of about HRK 362 million (€48.87 million), an increase of 6% compared with 2016, as well as a net profit of some HRK 13.1 million (€1.77 million), a robust improvement from HRK 6.5 million (€880,000) a year earlier. Export sales accounted for over 76% of its revenues.
