Marinka Dobnik, s.p.

The first chocolatier in Slovenia

In 1994, Marinka Dobnik, a language teacher, decided to leave her regular job. Numerous trips and journeys, learning about new cultures and activities, in particular to Belgium and France, triggered in this lover of Romance languages an ambition which she felt she had to bring to life. Deliveries of pralines, which her friends would send from Belgium, were no longer sufficient to satisfy her passion and enthusiasm for chocolates. So she established the “Čokoladni atelje Dobnik” (The Dobnik Chocolate Studio) in Griže pri Žalcu, which today offers permanent and temporary employment to around 30 staff.

“Starting from completely unsuitable premises, with no knowledge or capital, we have, over a period of two decades, succeeded in building up a renowned company that offers quality products,” remembers Marinka, looking back to the times where everything seemed so simple. By way of research and before devoting her full attention to the new business and starting to produce chocolates of the highest quality, she made two visits to Belgian chocolatiers. “Čokoladni atelje Dobnik” is the first and the largest provider of chocolates among Slovenian chocolatiers. In 2014 they had €1.25 million of turnover, generating €30,000 of profit.

“Although not recognized as a volume brand, our trademark represents the standard of high quality chocolates in this particular segment. We support innovation and offer products that other chocolatiers don't. Whenever we put a new, innovative product on the market, it quickly appears also on the shelves of our competitors,” explains son David, who has over the years gradually become involved in the family business. Everyone loves chocolate, a universal sweet that gives you that warm feeling of contentment, in addition to being regarded as a prestigeous product.  

A never ending story

As access to recipes and machinery has become available and easy, there is a large number of chocolatiers in Slovenia. This requires our experience and our products to be raised to a higher level to ensure added value. “Our products are of the highest quality as we do not make compromises and are not looking for shortcuts,” explains David. Despite the fact that the chocolate market in Slovenia is saturated, customers and media continue to demand chocolate for these very reasons.

“There is a story behind the development of our company. When a company is associated with a story that has a beginning, continuation and hopefully, no end, it becomes a source of much interest to the public, in contrast  to someone who decides to start making chocolates merely to create a profitable business,” adds Marinka. In 2005 they adopted a new business strategy, began with the expansion of their trademark and opened four new branches in Slovenia (Ljubljana, Maribor, Celje alongside Žalec) and one in Austria. Special additions to these chocolatiers are coffee shops where in addition to delicious chocolates you can enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in a pleasant atmosphere.

To support distribution in Slovenia, in 2012 they also set up their own online shop. “The aim of our business strategy is to create an attractive product in eye-catching packaging and offer it in our shops, while making sure customers have a pleasant shopping experience,” David says, explaining the revision of their trademark. “Everyone enjoys the atmosphere in our shops and coffee shops.”

Marinka is confident that the main factor for their success is the personal approach. “This is something you cannot learn. You can only aim to transfer it to your employees and encourage them to follow it. We have something which makes our shops stand apart from all others.” They have strived to instill in their employees the company's ethos and so far they have been spreading it through their own physical presence. “After a chocolatier or a coffee shop opens, we ensure that at least one family member is present there for weeks and months to provide the right support to the staff. I myself was present in the Ljubljana shop every day for two years, to show the staff the right customer approach.” 

“Čoko-babi” is bringing up her successors

For the past four years, Marinka has successfully cooperated with her son, a barrister, who is focused on marketing and sales, while she devotes her time to making up new recipes. They are both actively involved in building up the trademark and visual stories behind the products. While their opinions sometimes differ, they both know how to reach a compromise. “Often David will ask for nine new chocolates to be made to fill a new chocolate box by the end of the week, while I need a couple of weekends to come up with new recipes and sweets,” continues Marinka. Her daughter Nina has been involved in the family business from the very beginning, enjoying being in the house full of delicious chocolates and beautiful chocolate boxes and sometimes helping with packaging them. While her interest swayed for a time, now she is again interested in the world of chocolates. “Whilst I'm very proud of the family business, I see it as my mum's business. I prefer to separate business life from private life; however, this does not necessarily mean that sometime in the future I may not want to take an active part in the family business,” says Nika, a student of computer sciences.

In spite of Nika’s choice of study, Marinka believes the idea of her being involved in the family business is excellent: “In today’s business environment, it is family businesses that are thriving.” Her eight-year-old grandson has a special endearing name for his granny: 'Čoko-babi' (choco-granny) and Marinka believes he is her successor. She has already taught him the basics of chocolate pouring and has helped him set up a stall in front of their shop in Žalec. “You could not imagine how quickly he managed to sell all the chocolates,” she laughs. 

“Doktor Fig” has taken the Dobnik family products around the world

Chocolate is a product that boasts a century of tradition and its revolutionary impact diminished a long time ago. Nevertheless, there is always an opportunity for innovative products which the Dobniks are eagerly creating. “The magic of entrepreneurship is to make a successful company based on small products,” quickly points out Marinka. One of their first innovative products was the “Fige Prešernove” (Prešeren’s Figs) inspired by the “Mozart kugeln” from Salzburg. Based on the idea proposed by Professor Dr. Janez Bogataj, an ethnologist, Marinka created an innovative product of figs coated in chocolate in memory of the most prominent Slovenian poet Dr. France Prešeren (Doktor Fig). They became a real success and today are their signature product.

“In  his book ‘Taste Slovenia’, Dr. Bogataj promoted  these chocolate covered figs as one of the most favorite gifts and souvenirs from Slovenia, and these chocolates travelled all over the world without us even being aware of it. We received phone calls from USA, Germany and Japan with enquiries about places to buy the product,” happily recalls Marinka, who is currently looking for options to expand sales into foreign markets. In addition to figs, the company intends to place in foreign markets another of their innovative specialties, the “Frančeve čvešpe” (chocolate covered plums) which also feature among Slovenian popular gifts and souvenirs. In addition to chocolates, the Dobnik's family business also offers ice cream made from natural ingredients, according to their own recipe. The quality of the ice cream is guaranteed by their commitment to natural production using only natural ingredients and by their membership in the Italian ice cream makers association.  

Faithfully following their vision

“There is a chocolatier in the USA that operates under similar principles to ours and they have over 200 branches. Slovenia is restricted by its small size. As a small company it is difficult to find sufficient capital needed for expansion. “We intend to consolidate our presence in Slovenia by further developing some of the areas we are present in, while strictly following our vision,”Marinka confidently predicts. “We are the “Atelje Dobnik”, renowned for our hand crafted and original products and we aim to remain so.”