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Ambienta 4
Episode · #56

SAJAMSKI RADIO - Ambienta 4

Guest Ambienta 4May 3, 2026
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation

Ivica Pašalić, representing Mundus Viridis with its Milla & Milly brand, paints a candid picture of Croatia’s wood processing and furniture industry. He discusses the sector's strategic importance, its decades-long struggle with raw material supply, and the painful but necessary shift toward higher-value, design-led production. Pašalić doesn't shy away from the hard truths: the industry is "far behind" global leaders in design, and the path to catching up is "very difficult, very expensive, and very uncertain." But his company's experience — winning a major international design award in just a year and a half with domestic talent — offers a clear counterpoint: the courage to invest in local creativity is the only way forward. Readers will walk away with a clear-eyed understanding of what it takes to transform a traditional industry, from policy changes to the raw courage of putting money behind an unproven idea.

Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
The guest, part of the organizing committee, describes Ambienta as having fallen "to very low branches" before this year's "most serious shift for the better." When an industry event falters, its survival depends not on the organizers alone, but on direct, sustained involvement from the very businesses it serves.
02
For decades, the Croatian wood processing industry's main challenge was securing raw material, a problem only resolved recently by a "letter of understanding" that set clear purchase rules. This shift freed the industry to focus on higher value-added products and strategic investment, often through EU funds, rather than basic survival.
03
Faced with labor shortages, the guest's industry has already turned to importing workers from places like India and the Philippines. There are two paths forward: either the state reduces the tax burden on wages to make domestic employment more attractive, or businesses must look to global markets for talent.
04
Croatia's furniture industry has historically focused on "job work" for larger foreign chains, building a perception that this was the only viable production model. But the guest's company, Mundus Viridis, has shown that investing in proprietary design, though "very difficult, very expensive, and very uncertain," is the only path to escape low-margin production and compete globally.
05
Attending international fairs like Cologne cost the guest's company over €70,000 last year for just the stand and basic logistics. Investing in high-end design and branding isn't enough; the ability to finance these costly market entries is a separate, critical hurdle requiring careful financial analysis.
06
The guest's company exclusively uses domestic designers, proving that Croatian talent is "not in any way inferior" to international peers. The real barrier isn't skill, but the lack of entrepreneurial courage among local manufacturers to invest in proprietary design, rather than simply producing to others' specifications.
07
The guest challenges Croatian manufacturers to shed their "complexes" about international design expertise and start dedicating even "five, ten, fifteen percent" of their production to proprietary, high-value design. While risky and requiring investment, this gradual shift is presented as the only way to move beyond low-margin contract work and secure future profitability.
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