History

40 years ago, when fist chickens could be heard in the derelict facilities of the old barracks, nobody expected that in a relatively short period the chickes would take the names of Neverke and "Pivka" to almost every corner of Yugoslavia, all the way down to Skopje, and beyond the borders of the then country of ours. Year in and year out, thousands and thousands of tons of meat of broilers and turkeys kept establishing a reputation for a unique taste and quality with numerous customers, and with the distribution network a reputation for soundness and reliability.

The company Pivka perutninarstvo d.d. is one of the pioneers in the area of organisation of chicken meat production on the modern tehcnological bases. In 1959, Cooperative Bussiness Association of Slovenia founded Perutninski zavod "Kras" (the Institute for Poultry "Kras"); its role was the one of a reproduction centre which was to supply the producers of chicken meat from the entire Slovenia and a part of Croatia with one day old chicks. During its first years, the Institute, which was constituted as a company in 1963, produced one day old chicks, tried their hand in selective breeding and - in its school - provided basic knowledge about poultry breeding to numerous individuals who later on became the persons responsible for the development of poultry breeding all over the counrty.

By the end of 1963, first farmers - contract farmers - were invited to cooperate in the production and the company introduced the production of chicken meat. This was an important new direction in the operation of the company: in our fattening facilities, we started to breed one day old chicks which we had been selling before. The number of contract farmers grew, which not only resulted in increased production capacities but in larger quantities of meat and a larger market as well. In 1969, the company assumed a new name, namely "Pivka" perutninski kombinat ("Pivka" Poultry Combine).

In 1974, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary, we completed the construction of a new slaughtering complex in Kal, comprising a slaughtering house, a refrigerating plant, a processing plant, a rendering plant, a wastewater treatment plant and a shop. Soon an investment into Tovarna močnih krmil (Factory of Strong Feedstuffs) followed: the construction of silos and cells for feed mixtures as well as the construction of a new hatchery. In 1979, the part of the agricultural cooperative dealing in poultry from Cerknica joined us. Thus, we acquired hen breeding for the production of unfertalised eggs.

In 1973, the company was the first one in Yugoslavia to exceed the production of 10,000.00 tons of poultry meat. With its quality production and delivery the company strengthened the confidence of numerous dealers and customers. The company also started to export to the Middle East and the exported quantities soon comprised one third of the entire production. In 1988, the company reached the peak of its production.

After 1991 radical changed were necessary. The company began to widen the range of its offer. The market saw the first poultry meat products. In 1994, we introduced the breeding and processing of turkey meat and two years later the breeding and processing of rabbit meat was commenced. The year 1996 was decisive for the company since the slaughtering house and processing plant were almost completely destroyed by fire. The catastrophe paralysed the operation of entire company. Despite the terrible conditions the workers showed their willingness to help and unselfishly performed their jobs even though they had to commute daily to the slaughtering houses of Perutnina Ptuj and Jata until the production in Pivka was restored.

We, the workers of the company, were more than aware of the fact that this was the right time for global changes. We decided to take a new direction, i.e. from a production-oriented company we became a market-oriented one; furthermore, the appearance of the company was also changed. In the beginning of 1998 the company was transformed into a joint stock-company and is now called Pivka perutninarstvo d.d.