Three Croatian families building their farming futures

A former textile engineer who took a chance on buckwheat, two brothers continuing their parents’ pumpkin seed business, and a vegetable farmer preserving a traditional cabbage variety illustrate different approaches to developing family farms in northern Croatia.
Farmer’s Weekly visited the three enterprises in Varaždin County, where farmers are combining traditional crops with processing, product development and modern retail markets. Their experiences also highlight the opportunities and challenges facing family businesses in a country that has benefitted from EU agricultural support since joining the bloc in 2013.
Buckwheat finds its way home
At the House of Varaždin Buckwheat in Gornji Kućan, Tamara Šabić Pocedulić manages a processing business that began with a second-hand mill in the family’s garage. Together with her husband, Dario Pocedulić, she has developed an enterprise producing buckwheat flour, groats, flakes, pasta, crackers, confectionery and pillows filled with buckwheat husks.
The family started farming on approximately 6ha in 2006 and has since expanded to about 105ha, largely through leasing additional land. However, the decision to specialise in buckwheat was not part of their original plan.
“We were not competitive because everybody was producing the same crops,” Tamara recalled, referring to conventional crops such as wheat and maize.
One Sunday evening, her father-in-law showed her a field of buckwheat. She immediately recognised a possible business opp