„A jar of health“ that will make you cry

19. October 2021. Nikola Vido

Brave, hardworking and brave, a bit “crazy” in their time – these qualities of family members Makar proved to be a winning combination 40 years ago when they started a very unusual, angry story that lives on today. And not only does she live, but she has taken up residence in numerous households, spiced up many dishes and refreshed countless palates. This is a story about Ludbreški hren and a cheerful team that hides behind the name of the company Agro Altera

Just like we said: hardworking, young, brave and a bit silly, the married couple Makar decided to invest their savings in horseradish seedlings. And they didn’t pay attention to the neighbours’ comments at the time: “What do Makars intend to do again?”, but neither on their parent’s comments: “Are you crazy? So many thousands of marks will you invest in buying laces? How will a thick horseradish grow from those laces in one year? ” Luckily, they realized their plan – they brought a trunk full of “laces” in their Renault 4 and rolled up their sleeves. Today their laces have a protected geographical indication.

Days and years passed, production and sales grew rapidly, so Makar family soon opened a company whose two main branches were – horseradish cultivation and tent rental. And while the parents entrusted this second branch to the male heir, our interlocutor, Mrs Bojana, continued with the work that marked her entire childhood – growing horseradish. From childhood until today, from paper to the field – she attributes her knowledge to Father Franjo with a trembling voice: “He taught me everything – from planting and extracting, to processing and delivery of horseradish. If I didn’t have his help and support, today I certainly wouldn’t have such a beautiful palette of finished products and beautiful fields of Ludbreg horseradish“.

Today, in addition to fresh Ludbreg horseradish root, her assortment includes grated Ludbreg horseradish (200 and 550g), “Ludbreg horseradish” with parsley, cranberry, pepperoni, but also with apples. You can find all of them in grocery stores such as Konzum Plus, Kaufland, KTC, Lonia, Prehrana, Trgocentar, Strahinjčica, Decentia, Dergez, Robin trgovina, Metss, Tp, Mrkvica, Hrgarek and many others, but also in butcher shops like Braća Pivac, Kudelić, Oletić, Novotny, Mihalić… If you are not sure which horseradish comes from Agro Altera field, you will recognize it by the well-known VeeMee QR code. 🙂

The diligent hands of Mrs Nikolina and Mr Daniel help her to get the job done on time and to keep customers satisfied. But, in the main season, as she says, help is lacking neither from other family members and friends.

One thing is for sure, Mrs Bojana has no doubt that she is surrounded by good people because no one wants to do this job, except those who have to. In order for horseradish to reach its final form in glass jars, it is necessary to invest a lot of time, effort and love in all stages of its production: tillage, planting, cultivating crops and extracting from the ground. The working day does not last 8 hours, therefore, Mrs Bojana notes, it would not be easy to keep up with this pace if we don’t rely on our common cheerful spirit: “We are a very cheerful team, we look forward to every new day at work, there is no nervousness and something always happens that we can laugh and retell for years ”.

The story of Uncle Francek, whose boot snapped in the middle of a tractor driver, after which her mother Marica had to lend him her own floral sneakers in order to finish extracting horseradish – is just one of many stories. And in fact, these stories contain the essence of life – to be surrounded by good people, to do the job you love, to laugh and ultimately, to be healthy.

They are not afraid for their health, even in these difficult times, because they produce one of the most medicinal plants, full of vitamin C.

Apart from the fact that the virus (whose name we don’t want to mention anymore) is still lurking at every step, winter is coming, and with it, various viruses, colds … Agro Altera, therefore, recommends higher consumption of fresh Ludbreg horseradish root for all those with weaker immunity. And no, they won’t make you cry. If this was your first association with the consumption of horseradish, you certainly haven’t tried the homemade Ludbreg horseradish. Only grating fresh horseradish will make you cry, while just one small teaspoon of processed horseradish will be enough to make you sure that it is a homemade recipe, and that the taste and texture are different from the imported ones. It differs a little from the imported ones in terms of price, but for anyone who knows how much effort and work stays behind each jar produced, few more kunas will not be a problem, but it will help manufacturers in the fight against competing products that are often sold at outrageously low prices.

You get what you pay for. Health is the most expensive, so – choose wisely! 🙂

It would be a real shame for such quality domestic horseradish to remain only within the borders of the Republic of Croatia. The protected geographical indication, in addition to indicating the importance of domestic production, also opens the door to the European market. We have no doubt, therefore, that in the near future many will discover this jar of health, that sales will break previous records, but also that Agro Altera will have more and more business associates.

We are sure we will still have the opportunity to read about this horseradish, and while we eagerly await the new flavours that the Agro Altera team is working hard on, we will try the recipes according to their recommendation:

Until the next reading,

Your VeeMee advisor

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