May 26 (SeeNews) - Croatian meat producer Braca Pivac said on Tuesday it has opened a 120 million kuna ($17 million/16 million euro) prosciutto factory in the southern town of Vrgorac.
The new facility covers an area of 10,500 sq m and has a capacity of 4,500 tonnes of pork products, the company said in an emailed statement.
"The capacity of the new prosciutto factory - the largest one not only in Croatia but also in all of Southeast Europe, exceeds 300,000 units of prosciutto and 2,500 tonnes of pancetta, roasted meat and Dalmatian budjola," the head of Praca Pivac, Ivica Pivac, said in the statement.
Apart from raising the production capacities, the new prosciutto factory will also facilitate Grupa Pivac's better market positioning and represents a significant step in the company's development on the European market in the long term, he added.
With the completion of the factory the company has launched a new investment phase worth 20 million euro ($22 million). It envisages building a 10,000 sq m plant for cutting and packaging fresh meat and an office building adjacent to the prosciutto factory.
The completion of the project is expected in 2022, as its ultimate goal is to consolidate all production processes that are currently taking place at three different locations.
Grupa Pivac employs more than 2,000 people and has a network of 270 retail shops across Croatia. Apart from Braca Pivac, it also includes two more meat processing companies, PPK and Vajda. The group's combined annual prosciutto production is more than 150,000 units.
(1 euro = 7.5829 kuna)