Inside BlockStart programme – a look back from Mlekara Petrov

Mlekara Petrov is an agricultural company that provides quality organic dairy products in Serbia.

As part of their journey on BlockStart’s Acceleration Programme, as an SME adopter, they were looking for new opportunities for collaboration with technology providers of DLT/blockchain solutions that could improve their business. This is the testimonial of their experience in our programme.

In one paragraph, what is Mlekara Petrov?

Mlekara Petrov is a biodynamic agriculture production company, with a current focus on organic dairy products, and with the long-term vision of having people willing to return to their origins and live alongside nature.

What is Mlekara Petrov passionate about achieving?

The company started with and idea and a desire and 2009 was the year to implement it. Even though we did not own land, we bought one bull and four “busha” cows. They became tenants of Nikolaj in the Malo Središte village, and less then a year, they became fully-fledged residents of our farm at Veliko Središte.

Today, the farm is an oasis for tiger bushes, mangoes, sheep, goats, turkeys, ducks, geese, chickens, pheasants, badgers, owls, buckles, storks, wild cats, foxes … and for ourselves! Our small biodynamic estate is slowly changing. And some new plants are starting to grow.

Following this, we are always looking forward to new research. Nowadays, our main activity is organic dairy production, delivered to major retail chains in Serbia. Since the demand is growing, we are envisioning new types of products yet to be announced.

Can you tell us why you have decided to apply to BlockStart’s Call for end-user SMEs?

Our goal is to develop an innovation hub in our area, connecting local producers and innovative people from different regions. One of these is in the blockchain area, as it has many possible use cases in agriculture.

For this reason, we gladly agreed to participate in BlockStart, establish valuable connections, and explore how we can make this happen.

What major challenges have you faced during the implementation/testing of BlockStart’s blockchain-based solution?

There were two essential prerequisites for implementing the Infidia blockchain solution. The first one was that we were satisfied with the web application software we have been using for the last four years. Another was the possibility of shop managers of one retail chain to use the Infidia ordering solution. Infidia is solving this by connecting to our existing software and outreach to store managers to use their mobile ordering solution.

What kind of impact do you think the blockchain-based solution you have implemented in the scope of BlockStart may bring to your company?

Since we have a rising demand for our products, we think that factoring (financing) will bring us timely resources to double our production. We deliver the goods ourselves (all our vehicles run on methane and are thus eco-friendly), and there is a growing number of stores and orders by the major retail chain in Serbia. For this reason, we are also striving to automate all our processes. We will have more time to deal with what every farmer should do in the first place – focus on its production.

Where do you see your company in 5 years?

In five years, we see Mlekara Petrov as a small part of the larger picture of the new forms of settlements fostered by the groups of educated people building natural habitats for the centuries to come.

Want to know more about the blockchain-based solution adopted by Mlekara Petrov?

Visit Infidia‘s webpage or watch the video below to learn more about the “Infidia (InfidApp)” solution implemented by Mlekara Petrov in the scope of BlokStart’s 1st Acceleration Programme.

Applications for SME adopters are now open until 11 March 2021

The 2nd cut-off of the 2nd Open Call for SME adopters is now open until 11 March at 5pm CET (Brussels Time). If you are an SME operating in the fields of fintech, ICT and retail and willing to implement DLT/blockchain pilot solutions together with DLT/blockchain startups, that have gone through the BlockStart Acceleration Programme, you can still apply for this 2nd cut-off.

Don’t miss this change and benefit from up to €3,000 equity-free grants for participating in the Pilot stage of our 2nd Acceleration Programme.

Read the Guidelines for Application and our FAQ to ensure you know everything there is to know about BlockStart before applying!