DON DON GROUP I PROFILE
Don Don Group is big deal in the bakery industry. With a Group HQ in Belgrade, and large production facilities in Serbia, the company dominates the sector across the Baltic and Adriatic regions, supplying retailers of all sizes across Europe. CEO Srdjan Starcevic discussed more about what makes the company tick, with Hannah Barnett.
The strategy of t is based on growth and industrialisation. Having spent several years consolidating its leading position among bakery companies in the region, the company has invested more than €100 million into expansion and facilities. This move has paid dividends. The Don Don success story is one of growth that has been slow, steady and, ultimately, smart.
A brief history
Don Don was founded in 1992 in Slovenia and introduced its flagship brand ‘Your Five Minutes’ in 1999, which remains its main offering in the Adriatic market.
In 2015, the company acquired the leading bakery company in Slovenia to become number one in the country.
The following five years saw Don Don open many more facilities, all new and fully automated, setting up a good basis for export and facilitating expansion into countries like Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Poland.
“Our investments have been into large facilities that are fully automated to a very high standard, meaning we are known for product quality,” explained CEO Srdjan Starcevic. “In each of our new factories, we have a development department for improving the quality of existing products and creating new ones.
“Automation means we can have high productivity and control our costs. Because we are supplying many different markets, we get high volumes of orders which we can produce on an economical scale and reduce production costs. This is our main advantage, because we can be really competitive.”
This period of successful expansion is reflected in the increase in turnover from €90 million in 2017 to €205 million in 2024.
The majority of Don Don facilities and employees today are based in Serbia, where it is has 18 factories in which an impressive 170 kilotonnes are produced annually. An additional 15 kilotonnes are produced in Slovenia.
Perfecting the product
In a crowded market, Don Don must rely on more than automated production for long-lasting success. Luckily, the company’s products are also known for quality and versatility.
“We promote to our consumers that they can use our products for breakfast with sweet food or as a savoury option,” Mr Starcevic explained. “In different markets, customers exhibit different behaviours. In Hungary, for example, they are more likely to prefer sweet food for breakfast than in Serbia. In Bulgaria, there is more of a focus on savoury products.”
The company supplies large key retailers across Europe including Lidl, Kaufland, Delhaize and Spar. In the baked goods category, Don Don is the number one exporter in Serbia, exporting more than €30 million of products per year from Serbia alone.
“Our flat bread is very famous in export and on the shelves of all these retailers, because we offer a traditional product,” explained Mr Starcevic. “It has a hard rustic crust but is very soft inside. It’s a handmade effect and very tasty. Plus, it is baked with a high water content, making the product very juicy.”
The company offers a full range of baked goods, from fresh products with a shelf life of one day to frozen where the shelf life is one year. This means the company can directly supply customers
DON DON GROUP I
all over Europe. As well as large retailers, the company also supplies local, small- and medium-sized businesses with fresh and frozen goods. For fresh produce, Don Don provides everyday delivery services to a customer’s premises, which in turn helps the company keep improving.
“Through our retail network, we have direct contact with customers,” said Mr Starcevic. “It means we can test products directly, collect feedback and develop new flavours if they ask. This is how we improve our portfolio, because we are very well known on the market for innovation. We are in direct contact with the customers through our retail arm and through our local sales representatives in each country.”
Working together
Don Don is also able to remain at the forefront of New Product Development (NPD) by working closely with its suppliers.
“We work with big international companies like Puratos on NPD,” Mr Starcevic added.
CEO SRDJAN STARCEVIC
“Then, once per quarter, we have innovation days, where our suppliers present to us all the new improvements they have come up with. In turn, we present to them all the interesting input that we have gathered from our customers. We talk together and we create ideas. I think this is the best way to create new products which will be successful on the market.
We have around 100 different small transportation companies working for us, and we are in direct communication with them every day. We shake hands at the beginning of the year and establish an annual contract, securing the yearly price
DON DON GROUP
and increase for the next year. We also support them with additional funds when they need to change vehicles and with educational programmes for drivers on environmentally responsibility.”
In a similar vein, Don Don has a goal to reach Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050. One way the company hopes to make the goal reality is by working closely with partners and retailers, to reduce waste to zero. A particularly innovative scheme collects waste returns to produce feed for animals. The company is also changing its vehicles to be fully electric and is promoting regenerative farming production methods for the wheat grown in its supply chain.
Mr Starcevic joined Don Don two-anda-half years ago. What is it about heading this successful international bakery business that continues to excite him today?
“Each day there is the opportunity for improvement,” he concluded. “The bakery industry is very fast, so there are lots of new products introduced every year. Sometimes alterations and improvements are made from just a few additional ingredients. We have the opportunity to change things on a daily level but also on a much larger scale too. Being responsible for building a better planet inspires me a lot, and it is the foundation behind every one of our green initiatives.” n
