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Ivan Jukić
Episode · #634

POSLOVNI ĐIR Ivan Jukić

Guest Ivan JukićHosted by Ojdana KoharevićMay 3, 2026
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation

In a country increasingly focused on services, Ivan Jukić co-owns Papuča d.o.o., a Split-based company that has been producing slippers and clogs for over two decades, exporting across the region and supplying major domestic retailers. His journey began in the shadow of industrial giants like Jugoplastika, but today, Jukić faces a different kind of decline: a manufacturing sector struggling for survival. He offers a sober account of what it means to uphold quality and production in an economy where skilled labor is scarce, raw materials are imported, and the very idea of making things is losing ground to other aspirations. You will walk away with a clearer understanding of the quiet forces that erode a nation's industrial capacity, and the tenacity required to resist them.

Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
Ivan Jukić co-founded Papuča d.o.o. in 2000, precisely when the industrial giant Jugoplastika, where he had worked, was collapsing. The lesson is that the end of one era can be the beginning of another, especially when you carry the expertise of the old system into a new, leaner venture.
02
The last shoemakers graduated in Croatia in 2009, and Ivan Jukić notes that even his own injection molding staff left to drive for Konzum for better pay. A service economy's wage structure means that for some production roles, even apartment cleaners earn more per hour — a direct challenge to the viability of hands-on manufacturing.
03
Papuča d.o.o. has survived against cheaper imports by focusing on quality: "Those who buy our slippers once will buy them a second, third, fifth time," Jukić says. In a market flooded with disposable goods, consistent product reliability can still build a loyal customer base that transcends price.
04
Despite the common perception of Italian footwear superiority, Jukić asserts his Croatian-made slippers are of higher quality than their Italian counterparts. Sometimes, the true competitive edge isn't in brand perception, but in the tangible durability of the product itself, even if the market doesn't always recognize it.
05
Papuča d.o.o. imports all its raw materials—from textiles to thread—because, as Jukić states, "In this country, we can't get anything." A local manufacturing base can disappear so completely that even the most basic components for a finished product must be sourced abroad.
06
Jukić points to Croatia's over-reliance on tourism, arguing that "no country can base itself only on one economic branch." Without new value created through production, he says, a state cannot truly prosper — a direct challenge to the prevailing economic strategy.
07
The current workforce at Papuča d.o.o. consists mostly of pensioners, while Jukić believes the ideal age for shoemakers, who have mastered the craft, is between 30 and 45. When a skilled trade's average age skews heavily towards retirement, the immediate concern isn't just replacement, but the loss of institutional knowledge.
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