The Family Farm – more than a business, the Family Farm is a lifestyle. It is an ideal worth preserving.
I was born in Čakovec on February 7, 1996. and live in Belica in Međimurje. My family is engaged in agricultural production, purchase, packaging and distribution in Croatia and 9 exporting countries. Ever since I knew about my free time, I spent with my older and younger brothers with my grandparents, mother and mother in the field or at home in a warehouse, or with my father at a wholesale market in Rijeka and Zagreb. I have learned that hardworking, persistent and resourceful people can afford a decent life. But it took a lot of time and work to invest in that kind of life.
The family tradition of producing mostly potatoes can be thanked by a grandfather who, at the age of 12, with two horses and a metal plow, started our family business in 1960. My father was a merchant for 18 years at the Green Market on Žitnjak in Zagreb and at the Rijeka Wholesale Market on Kukuljanovo. In the 1990s he founded the Dodlek family-owned business, from which today it grew into Dodlek – an agro doo, a company with 60 employees, which is the market leader in Croatia for the production, purchase and sale of potatoes, and with additional assortments such as onions and celery.
In my story, I am currently in my third year at ZSEM, preparing to exchange and slowly preparing an idea for my final thesis. ZSEM taught me to never use all our potential we can. There is always room for progress and one should always strive for something better. By enrolling in ZSEM I promised myself that I would do my best to gain the knowledge for the future to come. I received the Dean’s List for the first and second year of study, and I hope to be a winner in the third. The exchange that follows me in the fall of 2018 will be Corvinus Egyetem Budapest in Hungary. I plan to spend a year there because I am learning Hungarian so that I can do more business with Hungary in the future. During the holidays I work at home in a family business. Over the summer, we have the most business in the field and do our best to provide our loyal customers with a quality and healthy product.
After studying at ZSEM and exchanging in Budapest, I plan to return home. The knowledge gained at ZSEM and Corvinus will help me to successfully fight for agricultural production in Croatia. My brothers and I plan to stay together and continue the work that our grandfather started, and the father who took the business to a higher level.
Author: Andrija Dodlek
