Štark
 | |
Native name | Штарк |
|---|---|
| Company type | Food manufacture |
| Founded | Belgrade, Serbia (3 January 1952) First founded in 1922 |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Matjaž Vodopivec (Director) |
| Products | Branded food, candies, chocolate, biscuits |
| Revenue |  €73.24 million (2013)[1] |
 €6.80 million (2013)[1] | |
| Total assets | €79.32 million (2013)[1] |
| Total equity | €8.19 million (2013)[1] |
| Owner | Droga Kolinska (100%) |
Number of employees | 1,030 (2013)[1] |
| Website | www |
Štark (full legal name: Soko Štark d.o.o. Beograd, pronounced Shtark) is a food manufacturing company located in Belgrade, Serbia. The main products of the company include candies, biscuits and chocolates. It is one of the most stable companies in Serbia, and has lived through some very turbulent times when it comes to politics and economics. One of its hallmark products is Najlepše Želje a chocolate bar that means "Best Wishes" in Serbian.
History
The factory dates back to 1922 when a French soldier founded it under the name "Louit" after returning from the Thessaloniki front in World War I. He later changed it to La Cigogna. The firm grew over time into a large factory. It witnessed many political upheavals, starting as a privately owned enterprise and finally being nationalized by the state. It was joined with other smaller companies, creating one large food company in 1966 and changing the name to “Soko Štark”. While it was in socialist Yugoslavia, the company was managed by the workers' organization, with workers themselves having a say in the way the company was run. In 2001 the company changed its status to a stock company at the Belgrade Trade Court and entered the public stock market. It also went through another name change, and is now simply called “Štark”. Štark products are imported into the United States by A.B Company, Inc.
Štark's product line includes:
- Assorted chocolates, in bars and in boxes
- Najlepše želje, the company's hallmark chocolate that comes in many flavors (plain milk chocolate, hazelnut creme filled chocolate, raisin filled chocolate, strawberry-yogurt creme filled chocolate, dark chocolate with mint cream), etc. and in various sizes (50 g, 100 g, 200 g, 300 g)
- Lady fingers
- Biscuit and Tea cookies
- Turkish delights
- Chocolate Cream Bananas (not actually bananas, but a foamy desert covered with chocolate creme in the shape of a banana)
- Jelly beans
- Salty products (most notably Smoki and Prima salty bread sticks)
- Chocolate and/or Hazelnut filled Wafers (most notably Napolitanke)
Miscellaneous
- According to Štark, 23 million Prima salty sticks are produced annually, with 45 sticks on average per bag. Each stick is approximately 12 cm long.
- According to Štark, Chocolate Cream Bananas are their best selling product, and on average, 66 million are sold annually.