The first morning coffee is favorite to many people, whether they drink it at home or in a café. While drinking coffee, we socialize, talk and share experiences, as well as negotiate business deals. Consumption of coffee in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a special ritual and a way of life and, because of that, trends from the West, such as instant coffee, cannot infringe on the tradition of drinking tradition of homemade coffee.
How important this drink is to the people here was recognized in 1990, when Eurovip, a company for coffee processing, was founded in Citluk. In their 27 years of existence, they’ve become one of the biggest coffee processors in BiH. As they say, even though they market their product only on our market, they’re ambitiously looking forward to exporting.
“Some future step in our business is turning towards foreign markets. We have the knowledge and manufacturing capacity for that, we just need a good foreign partner,” they’ve said in Eurovip.
The firm successfully works all over BiH with stores in Tuzla, Sarajevo, Laktasi, Bihac, and Zavidovici.
“We’ve optimally covered the country with our products. We’re going step by step and with each expansion, we add new employees.”
They add that, despite a decrease in the number of customers in 2017, they’ve seen an increase in sale and they’re satisfied with that.
“Even though a fall in the population affects the fall in total spending, which is reflected also in the coffee industry, we still have loyal customers. Our brand Café Brazil is an extraordinary mix of several basic types of raw coffee which is created according to the original homemade receipt with strict quality control measures of the raw materials and a fully computerized process of baking and grinding the coffee, which ensures top quality and our customers’ satisfaction.”
Over the years, they’ve constantly been increasing their market share and a result of that today, Café Brazil is one of the leaders in the segment of coffee on the domestic market.
Products of Eurovip can be found on the shelves of all larger chain stores in BiH and, according to market share, it’s one of the two largest coffee processors in the country.
Coffee is a stock market product and its price on the shelves is dictated by the world market. Last year, the price of this product increased in stores across the country. Even though BiH is one of the top ten countries in consumption of coffee, the constant rise in prices contributed to a decrease in the demand since coffee drinkers are buying less and less.
“The increase in the price of coffee on our shelves was lower than the increase in the price of coffee worldwide since we, the processors, decided to bear some of the costs of the increased prices ourselves. Nonetheless, this increase in prices did negatively affect our business.”
It’s hard to predict the price of coffee on the world market in the next period of time, they say in Eurovip.
In order to make many people’s favorite drink, two types of coffee are bred – Arabica and Robusta coffees. Arabica coffee is dominant in the world’s plantations and consists of 75 % to 80 % of world production. Those who are familiar with the coffee note that the basic difference between these two types of coffee is in flavor. Arabica consists of 1.5% caffeine, while Robusta consists of almost twice that much.
A mix of these two types of coffee is especially used in espresso coffee, to which, besides the flavor, Robusta coffee gives a better foam, which is, of course, unavoidable for any good espresso.
(Source: eKapija.com)
