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About the City of Velika Gorica

Velika Gorica is a Croatian municipality of 63.500 inhabitants of which almost 32.000 live within the city center. It is the 6th largest city in Croatia, and the largest city in Zagreb County (284,000 inhabitants). Velika Gorica is well connected via roads, airport, and train due to its closeness to the capital of
Croatia, Zagreb city. It is the 6th largest city in Croatia, the largest city in Zagreb county.

Also, it has outstanding transport connections with the entire Republic of Croatia allowing for both food production and distribution as well as closeness to the largest national market (Zagreb). Together, the geographical position, and natural and social resources of Velika Gorica as an integral part of Zagreb County, rank it among the leading cities in terms of development potential for agricultural production. This is largely due to the proximity of Zagreb, i.e. a large market for agricultural products. This is especially true for fresh products that do not tolerate longer transport, as well as for products of higher value and a higher price segment that are more difficult to find customers in less differentiated markets.

The challenges to be addressed in Velika Gorica are the fragmentation of land plots along with the low level of technology use in the agriculture industry. Also, in spite of the high potential for distribution and sales, there is a lack of a well-equipped market as a center for selling local products.

Since Croatia has a high potential for production (land and agriculture producers) it can be more self-sustainable than the current state. There is a need for a systemic analysis approach toward all food actors and all actions in the food supply chain to build attractive scenarios for sustainable growth on the basis of this potential.

Food Business in Velika Gorica

 There is a high number of small food businesses (agriculture producers) which have small family businesses. 

The city of Velika Gorica covers an area of 32,915 ha, of which 10% is used as agricultural land. About 40% of the population still lives in the rural part of the city, and they are fully or partially connected to agricultural production. It is estimated that there are about 5,000 agricultural holdings in the City, with about 3,000 engaged in agricultural production. From the ecological point of view, the city of Velika Gorica is a traditional fruit/vegetable production area with the possibility of growing a large number of species and varieties of fruit trees and growing a variety of vegetables. The geographical position, and natural and social resources of Velika Gorica as an integral part of Zagreb County rank it among the leading cities in terms of development potential for agricultural production. This is largely due to the proximity of Zagreb, ie a large market for agricultural products. This is especially true for fresh products that do not tolerate longer transport, as well as for products of higher value and a higher price segment that are more difficult to find customers in less differentiated markets.

Advantages and disadvantages

• Good natural conditions for the development of vegetable and fruit growing
• Outstanding transport connections with the entire Republic of Croatia
• Close to the largest market (Zagreb)
• Fragmentation of plots
• Low level of use of technological solutions in agriculture
• Lack of a well-equipped market as a center for selling local products

Participants

P08 VEGO - Local development agency, specialized in consulting SMEs and providing free business education, as well as serving the city in all areas of sustainability such as renewable energy, smart IT solutions, employment, etc. 

P09 INVE - Inventive Solution is a privately owned company, led by a fruit engineer with extensive experience in technology consulting for professional fruit growers. Inventive Solution Ltd. specializes in modern technologies for apples, pears, and cherries growing. Other than growing, Inventivna rješenja is also devoted to the possibilities of implementing information technologies (ICT) in agricultural production

 Currently focused on the involvement of main City actors,  representatives in needed Public offices in Velika Gorica and the representatives of Zagreb county as well as local food producers (individual/clusters/food production organizations) from Velika Gorica and surrounding areas to come up with unique policies and actions which will lead toward self-sustainability of our region.