Croatian Coffee Company Franck Turns 125

Franck celebrates 125 years (image: Franck/Facebook)

Iconic Croatian coffee, tea and snacks company Franck is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.

Franck first opened 125 years ago in the Croatian capital Zagreb in 1892. Not many companies can boast a history which spans over three centuries, and Franck’s is an interesting one.

It all started when a young and ambitious German entrepreneur named Johann H. Franck managed to produce a coffee substitute using chicory root. The company was first registered as Heinrich Franck Sohne G.m.b.H in 1828.

After branches opened in Austria, Italy, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, a branch was opened in Zagreb’s Vodovodna Street in 1892, where the company’s headquarters are still today, and a chicory processing factory was put in operation in Zagreb.

Original factory in Zagreb in the same location as headquarters today (image: Franck)

In 1900 the first chicory curing house was opened in Bjelovar and ten years later the production of pearl rye began in Croatia. In 1945 Franck substitute was introduced in the Croatian market.

Franck produced coffee substitutes but in 1960 Coffee production was launched and in 1968 the first ever production of teas in filter bags began.

Since then it expanded its product range to include spices, powdered sugar and condiments.

In 1977 the production of Croatia’s first fried potato chips, better known as Čipi Čips, began at the potato processing factory in Hercegovac.

1982 saw Ideal coffee 100 g, the first vacuum-packed coffee, launched. In 1991 Franck then produced the for the first time in Croatia fruit-flavored teas began: blueberry, apricot and tropic teas.

In 1993 the iconic Jubilarna vacuum-packed coffee was introduced in the market.

In 2015, Franck partnered with Intersnack and founded a joint venture company for the production and distribution of snacks called Adria Snack Company Ltd.

Franck, one of the most successful food production and export companies today in Croatia.

“We at Franck are extremely proud of the fact that entire generations have grown up with our products, and that even today, 125 years after its founding, the name Franck stands for a guarantee of superior quality. That is the basic principle the company has been built on, and represents the backbone of our business,” Franck says.

(images: Franck)