Page 14 - Food&Drink Jan-Feb 2022 magazine

Scandinavian foods were the beginning of Viking Imports and remain at its core.
IN the 1980s, a group of Swedish friends banded together to start importing foods into Australia that they missed from their homeland. It was the start of Viking Imports, bringing herrings, rollmops, and Swedish crispbreads to our shores.
When Ivan Markovic’s parents bought the business in the early ‘80s, their experience as accountants and working for large scale trade companies in Yugoslavia meant the business grew steadily across almost three decades, from starting in their garage to three moves into bigger facilities as their range and scale expanded.
Ivan did not intend to follow his parents into the business. “I saw how hard they worked and didn’t want those headaches that come from running your own business.
“But I am a foodie at heart so decided to give it a go. It has been the best decision I ever made, allowing me to experience new flavours from all over the world as well as build on something Mum and Dad made,” Markovic says.
The core of the business is still Scandinavian foods, but in the last six years Markovic has focused on broadening its range of clean ingredients and foods.
“The business has three parts, the first being wild products. We import frozen wild blueberries and mixed berries, dried wild mushrooms, and wild fish including pickled herrings. All our fish products are sustainability fished.
“Then we maintain our core Swedish products and brands that are well known to expats, including Finnish Fazer and Swedish Leksands crispbreads and Nyåkers gingerbread biscuits. Scandinavian foods were the genesis of the business
and are still its rudder as we look to new markets.
“And now we’re branching into products that are otherwise not on the shelves, like potato milk,” he explains.
Potato milk is one of the most sustainable alternative milks, being cheap to grow and using less water than almonds or oats. Markovic says the milk has a neutral taste with good mouthfeel. Sweden’s Lund University has patented a processing method to produce the allergen-free offering.
With its established history, Viking has suppliers it has worked with for more than
15 years. To grow the business, Markovic turns to existing suppliers first, then looks at the Australian market for any gaps their products could fill.
“Quality and taste and the first two properties we abide by and then a good price point.
“We have a stringent supply program and our goal is to bring in products that you won’t find elsewhere.
“They might not always be price competitive, but the flavour profile and the quality are much higher,” he says.
THE TURNING POINT
After a few poor performing years in the 2010s, Markovic knew change was needed if Viking Imports was going to survive. And then Covid arrived.
Because of its retail focus, Viking’s sales grew 20 per cent. The additional income and a grant through the federal government’s Entrepreneurs’ Programme provided much needed capital to employ an external CFO to review systems and processes, and the creative agency The Offices to do a complete brand refresh.
“Viking has a proud heritage
Resetting the sails
Refreshing a well-established 30-year-old company to meet today’s challenges and opportunities is quite an undertaking. Kim Berry speaks to Ivan Markovic from Viking Imports about doing just that.
14 | Food&Drink business | January-February 2022 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au