Dragana Aćić, a very successful and persistent woman on the one hand, but a very modest person on the other, at the very beginning of the conversation, remembered her beginnings in the production of jams, as well as her journey into the world of entrepreneurship. She started the production in 2017, after returning to Drvar.
The idea, which at the very beginning seemed like a small spark, with the help of friends, acquaintances and experts in their fields, encouraged our interviewee Dragana Aćić, to start something new. So today, after a couple of years, great results can be seen, which testify to the development of production in various segments, from the moment of production to the moment of sale. Aćić, who turned down many other offers at the time of the decision to start production, is now reaping the fruits of her hard work. After starting the production, she decided to produce exclusively pomegranate jam, in the desire not to be a competition to other women from Drvar who are focused on the production of dogwood jams, for which Drvar is known. As it usually happens, when the quality is recognized, its loyal customers later began to increasingly look for some other products, which is why our interviewee decided to diversify her products, and thus introduced jams made of cherries, and occasionally when the year is suitable for harvesting, plum jams.
She gained more support for realization of her idea through the support of projects implemented by “poduzetnice IN”. After Ms. Aćić’s application was accepted, her business gained another dimension, received initial funds for business registration, the ability to create labels, the ability to sell in new markets, as well as support in some other areas, such as marketing. As part of marketing support, the products of the Aćić household, along with other recognized BH products as part of the IN project, received a joint sticker and logo called BH treasure.
Now, after four years, Dragana Aćić has her own mini plantation, which has 150 rosehip seedlings. She says that the existence of a wild rosehip, which can be collected outside the plantation, also supports her work. In line with demand, Dragana seasonally hires an average of two to three women, who help her with the harvest. In accordance with the expansion of production, our interviewee does not shy away from the responsibility aimed at increasing the volume of demand and employment of new workers, and points out that she owns the only registered trade of this type in Drvar.
When it comes to sales, our interviewee points out that it is always a double-edged sword, and that from the beginning her emphasis was exclusively on smaller stores and online sales. Thus, in the past period, business was done with several smaller stores in Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Međugorje, when it comes to online sales (primarily sales via the social network Facebook), our interviewee states that she had the highest number of orders from Sarajevo, Travnik, Jajce and Banja Luka. She also states that one of her biggest problems, problem that most small producers in BiH share, is the unregulated issue of delivery.
Now, Ms. Aćić states that she managed to solve the problem of delivery, but she also managed to solve the problem with the placement of her products, thanks to the project of city and state authorities, the first specialized store of agricultural products. This project is currently being implemented in two cities in the Republika Srpska, Banja Luka and Trebinje, where products from the Banja Luka region are located in a store called “Krajiška kuća”. Our interviewee states that the plan is to open the “Krajiška kuća” outside the borders of BiH, more precisely in Novi Sad and Belgrade, and she claims that if that happened, she would most likely succeed in resolving the issue of complete placement of her products.
When asked if there are certain problems in production, Dragana Aćić answered that the most difficult period is in September, when the season is in full swing and when she needs the most financial resources, due to the cost of necessary materials, purchase of rosehips, procurement of materials and many other reasons. Our interviewee adds that during the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures that were introduced, the measures affected the Aćić household partly, but they plan to continue at full speed this year, where their work was interrupted several times in 2020.
The fact that the Aćić family, and Mrs. Aćić herself, is active and dedicated to what she loves, is proven by the fact that they do not stand still, but always go one step further, and applied for the funds of the Municipality of Drvar. With these funds, they managed to fulfill their biggest wish, fruit dehydration. They use it for personal purposes, mostly, but they are guided by the slogan that the it will be used at the right time in their business.
At the end of the conversation, Mrs. Dragana said that she would like to see young people more active in agriculture, especially in Drvar, which she believes has a special potential that must be used. She, will not give up on her dreams even now, and we can certainly say that by setting an example with her work, she shows how some things are relatively simple if we believe in what we do.
Interviewers: Maida Zagorac and Mirjana Ribić
