February 8, 2013, we proudly celebrate Hedona’s birthday
The company was founded by the Association of Persons with Disabilities Križevci, headed by Mr. Petar Gatarić, as part of the “Chocolateria Cris” – Križevci Chocolate Factory project, with the desire that Hedona, as a social enterprise, primarily employs people with disabilities. In the company, all profits are reinvested in employees, in the development of their competence and satisfaction, and the development of new activities. The basic mission of Hedona, a social enterprise, was and remains the employment of all persons with disabilities in the area of Koprivničko-Križevačka County, thereby influencing the improvement of the quality of personal life and the development of social sensitivity in society and breaking down prejudices.
In 2013, with the idea and efforts of the Križevci Disabled People’s Association, headed by Mr. Peter Gatarić, the first company in Croatia was created whose main motive is to enable the employment of people with disabilities.
The impact of responsible social entrepreneurship on society and the environment:
- Attitude towards employees, customers and suppliers
- Relationship with the competition
- Relationship to the environment
- Relationship with the local community.
At the time of its establishment, six people were employed in Hedona – four with disabilities, and two female engineers (food technology and mechanical engineering), and the business was conducted in the practicum area of the high school “Ivan Seljanec” in Križevci. The humble beginning consisted of a product line of 3 types of chocolate (100 gram dark with 72% cocoa, 100 gram milk with 30% cocoa and 100 gram Goddess chocolate made of milk and dark chocolate, sprinkled with hazelnuts and dried fruits) and pralines with five flavors (Anita with strawberry flavor, Sunshine with orange flavor, Pegate with hazelnut flavor, Meli with pistachio flavor and Maris with marzipan).
All chocolates and pralines are handmade by our hard-working employees, people with disabilities who, by opening Hedona, won the battle in a difficult and for people with disabilities, difficult competition on the labor market.
Hedona is a humane, but also economically successful company. It was not easy to break into the chocolate and praline market. With its handmade chocolates and pralines, Hedona succeeded in this, adopting new technologies, following trends and successfully adapting to them. The advantage of handmade chocolate and pralines is manifested in the exceptional ability to adapt, and the way to personalize the products themselves, from the taste and filling method, and the personalization of the packaging itself.
In Hedona, they are especially proud of their cooperation with the legendary Zagreb hotel Esplanade, which was among the first to recognize the value of handmade products and the quality they want to offer their guests. The fact that our handmade chocolates and pralines have been served in the Vatican, at the awarding of the Večernjak rose, in the Chocolate Museum, also supports the fact that the good taste can be “heard” far away, the cooperation continued with numerous renowned catering and hotel companies, banks, public and private companies, OPG activities, winemakers in Croatia and abroad.
Choco bar Hedona, a homely corner for sweet pleasure, a place where all your senses enjoy…
On December 14, 2017, the Hedona social enterprise and integrative workshop, to the great joy of its employees, small and large Križevci residents, and all visitors, opens the doors of the Hedona Choco bar, as part of the Križevci Development Center and Technology Park. In one place, you can enjoy excellent coffee, sweets from Hedona’s chocolate shop, a wonderful terrace surrounded by nature, an ideal space for families, socializing, as well as for business meetings.
Choco bar Hedona and the renovated Sweet House Hedona in 2022 in the very center of the town of Križevci, with its sales range of Hedona’s handmade chocolates and pralines, as well as new products from the Hedona3P program, have become an indispensable place to buy quality, unique, sweet and domestic products for a gift for private or business purposes.
Substitute fulfillment of the obligation of quota employment
In 2018, the Ministry of Labor and Pension System issued a decision that Hedona achieved the status of an integrative workshop. Hedona, a social enterprise, employs people with disabilities based on the opinions and findings of the Center for Professional Rehabilitation. It is the only integrative workshop in which a person with a disability participates in the entire production process. In order for an integrative workshop to be considered integrative, the company should employ 40% of people with disabilities in relation to the total number of employees. Hedona, a social enterprise and integrative workshop, exceeded this percentage in 2017. the number of people with disabilities has doubled compared to the year of establishment.
The share of employed persons with disabilities in the total number of employees at an individual employer is determined by Article 3 of the Ordinance on determining the quota for employment of persons with disabilities and amounts to 3% in relation to the total number of employees at the employer. With the amendments to that Ordinance, which entered into force on January 15, 2015, the quota is no longer determined with regard to the employer’s activities and their areas in accordance with the Decision on the National Classification of Activities, but is determined uniquely.
Quota employment obligees are employers who employ at least 20 workers, except representative offices of foreign persons, foreign diplomatic and consular offices, integrative and protective workshops, employers in the textile, clothing, leather, wood and furniture production sector and newly established employers during the time of introduction.
The aforementioned employers are obliged to employ persons with disabilities in appropriate workplaces, under appropriate working conditions, in the amount of 3% in relation to the total number of employees on the basis of which the quota is determined, regardless of the activity performed by the employer.
Taxpayers who do not fulfill the quota employment obligation by employing persons with disabilities can fulfill their obligation in an alternative way, of which we present one:
– conclude one or more contracts on business cooperation with a protective workshop and an integrative workshop, that is, a trading company, cooperative or association in which more than half of the workers are people with disabilities.
REPLACEMENT QUOTAS instead of paying penalties,
quality product and reliable Hedona management,
are reason enough for you to work with the best.
You can become our partner too!
Handmade chocolates and pralines, packaging, printing, sewing textile items for work, or for promotional purposes!
Hedona, as a social enterprise and integrative workshop,
offers you the possibility of concluding a contract on the Replacement Quota,
whereby instead of paying a penalty, you fulfill your quota employment obligation by purchasing our products.
You support our work, do business responsibly and participate in the market of equal work opportunities for all citizens.
Opening of a new facility, SEWING, PRINTING, PACKAGING
08.02.2022. we released 9 purple balloons and celebrated the 9th birthday of Hedona, a social enterprise and integrative workshop, a chocolate factory in Križevci, and with the commissioning of a new facility, Hedona expanded its production activities to printing and packaging. The latest technologies and equipped facility, as well as the education and training of our employees, proved to be a good path and a firm belief in a good future ahead.
Hedona3P is the new corporate program of Hedona, which offers you Product, Print and Packaging.
Handmade chocolates and pralines, a high-quality product made according to the highest standards of HACCP principles, certified by the IFS certificate, in environmentally friendly packaging that respects the product’s added value, personalized text or image printed with the latest technological printing machines, sewing room of textile products for the purpose of business promotional activities, protective work corners, aprons and the like, bags, sacks, t-shirts, pillows, all in one place, an adaptable program for fast delivery, a unique message and responsible business for you and your company.
REPLACEMENT QUOTAS instead of paying a penalty, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONCLUDE A Contract on replacement quota with Hedona social enterprise and integrative workshop and focus your business on creating a better market that respects and provides equal work opportunities for everyone.
By concluding the Agreement on replacement quota, you support the work of our company and provide us with the opportunity to create new jobs, by opening new production opportunities and expanding our activities.
Hedona is widely recognized as an example of social entrepreneurship, and we are a frequent guest at lectures on this topic, where director Alemka Lončar conveys her knowledge, supports it with practical examples and supports the work of other integrative workshops in Croatia.
Hedona is celebrating its 10th birthday these days, our business partners will have the opportunity to see what we have managed to do so far, how much we have grown, how many of us there are now, all thanks to their support and cooperation. Thank you to all business partners for the trust, support and belief that we can do even more.
Hedona social enterprise and integrative workshop
would like to give special thank and congratulate its founder, Mr. Petar Gatarić, the president of the Association of Persons with Disabilities on the 10th birthday,
without whom the city of Križevci and Prigorje would not be recognized
as the sweetest destination and a city where everyone has the same opportunity to work and a decent life.