CAPSULE STORIES #7 - IVANA MARTINOVIĆ, RENATA PAVIĆ AND SARA SILADJI
20/11/2019
A successful project of the high students of Dugo Selo: Traditional fine wine of the St. Martin’s region
High School Students of Dugo Selo: Ivana Martinović, Renata Pavić and Sara Siladji under the mentorship of their economics teacher Ivana Gradečki designed a successful entrepreneurial project. It was about rosé wine. In promoting this wine the students emphasized the rich tradition of winemaking in Dugo Selo as well as its connection to St. Martin.
Their financial plan, from raw materials to production and promotion, won them the second place in the finals of Business Challenge 2019competition organised by the Zagreb College of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Management Nikola Šubić Zrinski. Their topic was: Time for New Businesses in the Town. The award was three years of free schooling. They managed to present an economically viable and tenable product and linked its promotion to the town of Dugo Selo. This is not just a figure of speech – wine lovers praised the harmony, balance and fullness of taste as well as the fruity note of this wine especially designed for the woman's palate. The “three entrepreneurs from Martin Hill” told us their story of what their work was about.
"It was necessary to complete all the paper work concerning the product development in just two months. We explored the comparative advantages of our town and came to the conclusion that Dugo Selo is very suitable for winemaking, which is supported by the long wine tradition in Dugo Selo. The centre of winemaking region is Martin Hill itself. “There are vineyards surrounding the area of the old church. The fertile land and a lot of sun are suitable for growing grape vines", says Ivana. They decided to take the wine made by the top winemaker: Boris Mahač, the owner of a family farm and president of the winemaking and wine association Terra sancti Martini of Dugo Selo. They would like to take this opportunity and thank him for his help.
The vineyard mentioned in the project Renata inherited from her grandmother. The surface area of the vineyard is1 hectare and it produces 8,000 kg of grapes per year, which makes 6,000 litres of high quality wine. The winery is called Eros Dioniz. Before the finals of the Business Challenge, the wine was presented at the prestigious 2nd Annual Wine Tastingevent of the best wines of the Zagreb County. The girls thought of everything while competing at the Business Challenge and it also helped them a lot that Sara, who comes from Vrbovec, the neighbouring town, was this year's Miss County of Zagreb. "We had a strong marketing strategy, made videos, and promoted the wine through different media and social networks", explains Sara.
Their video speaks about the chart given to the Templars by King Andrew II in 1209, where the name "Terram Sancti Martini" was mentioned for the first time. The video also speaks about the land and the church of St. Martin.
“Ever since that time winemaking has been popular in that region and hopefully it will continue to be because tradition is important in achieving high prices of the wine”, they explain. So, preserving the tradition is what their project focused on. The young entrepreneurs evaluated the Interreg NPA project as excellent. “As other towns included in the project also cultivate winemaking there is a possibility of their cooperation. They are also interested in the possibility of connecting via IT technology because that way continental tourism would develop, which would then in turn stimulate the GDP growth of Dugo Selo and ultimately of Croatia. It would also enable the further development of the town and its infrastructure. The greater the involvement of Croatia in EU projects the greater global visibility and recognisability", says Ivana.
There is a potential of continental tourism in Dugo Selo throughout the year. “A high rate of natural increase means a lot of young people in the future which can also be regarded as one of the advantages for the town of Dugo Selo ", says Renata. She adds that projects such as the NPA project, which combines different aspects of life, can also contribute to the future development of the town. Dugo Selo has also excellent traffic connections and even though it is close to the metropolis of Zagreb it offers a peaceful retreat from the hustle and bustle of Croatia’s capital.
Potential tourists would visit the church of St. Martin on top of Martin Hill, where it all started, and from where they would be able to enjoy the magnificent view. They would also be welcomed in a traditional way of Dugo Selo - a glass of good wine.
Video available on
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=557444498069219&id=489453081535028
