Podravka, a leading Croatian food company, said on Monday that it would receive three million kuna in non-repayable grant for its HRK 6.89 million project of the development of innovative products from by-products during the processing of vegetables.

The two-year project called “Development of innovative products from by-products obtained in vegetable processing” is being co-funded from the European Regional Development Fund, the Koprivnica-based company said in a press release.

The 2020-2022 research project is targeted at innovative and technologically efficient process of separation of nutrient-rich bio-waste during the industrial processing of vegetables in Podravka’s Kalnik factory in the city of Varazdin, for the purpose of developing new and innovative food products.

This is the first project of the Podravka d.d. company to be co-financed with funds disbursed from the European Union, the head of Podravka’s R&D department, Jasmina Ranilovic, said.

The grant was awarded by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, as part of the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014–2020, Priority axis 1: Strengthening the economy through research and innovations. The application was submitted in response to the Call for Project Proposals “Increasing the development of new products and services ensuing from research and development activities – phase II”.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)