CROATIA
Trenton plans to expand its activities in the ďŹ sh side of the business
Traditional recipes combining taste with health As in other Mediterranean countries Croatia too cultivates many of the products associated with the region such as olives, nuts, vegetables, and fruits, and catches species such as anchovies and sardines that are typical of the Adriatic. These items symbolise the Mediterranean diet with all its connotations of health, taste, and quality. Capitalising on this, the company Trenton produces a range of local delicacies from raw materials that are synonymous with the Mediterranean including salted anchovies, ďŹ sh pates, olive oil, table olives and capers.
A
s a family-run company established in 1994 Trenton’s philosophy has been to manufacture the best tasting and least processed food items in keeping with its slogan “Trenton, the taste of pure nature�. Starting with olive oil and table olives the company soon moved in to the
production of salted fish, a traditional Dalmatian product. Along the way the company also got involved in cod, the consumption of which, when dried and salted, is typical of coastal Croatia, just as it is popular in Spain and Italy. Preparing the traditional Croatian “bacalao bianco� which is always
Lada Karnincic and Davor Karnincic, directors in Trenton.
Salted anchovies are a typical Mediterranean product. Croatian companies use ďŹ sh from the Adriatic which they consider superior to the species found in other parts.
eaten over Christmas and Easter, is a laborious process however. Sensing an opportunity, Lada Karnincic, one of the company’s two directors, together with a food technologist, spent a year developing a recipe based on cod to create a fish spread. Christened Bacalao Banco spread has become very popular since it was introduced 15 years ago. Today in addition to the cod the company also has spreads based on smoked salmon, and on white fish combined with Adriatic shrimp.
Obtaining raw material of the right quality is sometimes tricky Anchovies are layered with salt in barrels and allowed to mature for months under controlled temperatures.
The salted fish is based on anchovies and sardines from the Adriatic. It is in fact one of the oldest
products in Trenton’s assortment and the production is all carried out inhouse. Obtaining the raw material for this production is the responsibility of Davor Karnincic, the other company director. Sourcing the fish is sometimes a struggle as fishermen are often committed to delivering their catches to other producers. For most of the production Trenton has therefore been sourcing the already-salted fish, which it then matures. For the remainder, the company buys and salts the fish itself. Summer season (June to October) is the main season for the sale of fillets. Thanks to the presence of thousands of tourists the company sells about 2 tonnes of fillets per month in summer as opposed to 700-800 kilos per month in winter. In the past there Eurofish Magazine 6 / 2018
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