VRIJEME JE ZA GOSPODARSTVO Stiv Kahlina

Guest Stiv KahlinaHosted by Darko BukovićMay 3, 2026

Stiv Kahlina

About this episode

What you'll hear in this conversation

Stiv Kahlina’s path to becoming a chocolatier began not with a business plan, but with a simple curiosity at Paris’s Salon du Chocolat. There, he saw chocolate not just as a confection, but as a medium for artistic expression, a material to be shaped by flavor, texture, and form. This shift from musician to web designer, and now to artisan chocolatier, highlights a career defined by creative pivots and an unwavering commitment to craft. With his wife Sanja Vladović, Kahlina founded TAMAN, a brand built on the philosophy that true quality lies in meticulous handcraft and natural ingredients, even if it means staying a "boutique" rather than industrial producer. He faces the challenges of a market still catching up to the global artisan movement, and a local industry lacking formal training for his craft. Readers will learn about the unexpected turns that can lead to a new calling, the quiet resolve required to build a premium brand in a nascent market, and the subtle yet firm decisions that define a commitment to quality over scale.

Insights from the conversation

What to take from this episode

Stiv Kahlina’s career pivot began with a casual visit to Paris’s Salon du Chocolat, where he saw chocolate not as a mere confection, but as a material for artistic expression. The "click," as he calls it, happened when he realized it could be shaped by flavor, texture, and form, proving that a new calling can emerge from pure creative curiosity.

The decision to remain a "boutique" manufacturer, using only ecological and organic ingredients without artificial stabilizers, is not merely a business strategy for TAMAN. It's a non-negotiable commitment that defines the brand's identity, accepting that industrial scale would compromise its very essence.

Croatia’s educational system offers no formal training for chocolatiers, making the search for skilled labor TAMAN’s biggest obstacle. When building a craft business, the absence of a professional pipeline for your niche skills can be a greater constraint than market size or raw material costs.

Croatia’s market for artisan products lags behind countries like France and Belgium, a gap Stiv Kahlina attributes to a century of different cultural development. You cannot expect immediate market understanding for a craft that has matured elsewhere over generations; educating the customer becomes part of the value proposition.

TAMAN thrives on collaborations with other companies, developing specialized chocolates for their specific products or promotional needs. The true value of a boutique producer often lies not just in their own line, but in offering custom creative solutions that industrial-scale manufacturers cannot replicate.

Cocoa, the essential raw material, is not grown in Europe and is highly susceptible to climate change, making TAMAN’s supply dependent on distant continents. While premium cocoa may not disappear entirely due to its high value, accepting global volatility is a fundamental condition of working with such a sensitive, imported ingredient.

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