"We decided for the investment due to the increased needs for better performance and more modern infrastructure because Croatia's accession to the EU opened new markets," Pipo director Predrag Šegović said at the opening.

Perutnina Ptuj CEO Roman Glaser said that the poultry sector was one of the most competitive and export-oriented segments of food industry.

Vertical integration is of significant importance in any country, said Glaser. "We can offer consumers in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia foods grown in their countries," said Glaser.

According to him, the company is present on 22 markets and sell most of its products in SE Europe, which accounts for 62% of sales revenues, followed by the Slovenian market with 23% and the EU with 13%.

Perutnina Ptuj reached the highest sales revenues in its history last year with EUR 261.8m. It generated EUR 25m in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which was a 30% increase over the year before.