February 20, 2022 – Selection MM, a well-known Croatian luxury food importer owned by Marijo Mendek, has unfortunately started pre-bankruptcy proceedings.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Commercial Court in Zagreb has opened the pre-bankruptcy proceedings of the Selection MM company of Marijo Mendek, known as the most famous Croatian importer of luxury food products and premium wines. The move was initiated at Mendek’s request due to “threats of insolvency” as well as blocked accounts and an established debt of around 219,000 kuna.

In his own proposal, Mendek also listed the assets held by MM Selection, which also includes the MM building in Ilica in Zagreb’s Kustosija, three Citroën delivery vehicles and a mini cooper. He also listed MM Selection’s claims against nearly 70 debtors, amounting to 1.77 million kuna.

Among them are companies associated with Marijo Mendek, but also companies by which some of the best Croatian restaurants are managed, such as Baltazar restoran doo, Barbieris restaurants doo and Esplanade Oleander doo. Interestingly, Mendek’s list of debtors also includes the Ministry of Finance, from which he demands just over 48,000 kuna.

The most famous Croatian luxury food importer was also founded in 2010 with a registered capital of 4.1 million kuna and is based in Ilica in Zagreb, and Mendek is entered in the court register as its sole founder and director. . As a guest of the gastro and lifestyle sections of various Croatian media portals, Mendek has often pointed out that his story with food began in the late 80s in Munich, Germany, where he worked for years in a restaurant. two Michelin stars.

“That’s where I first encountered high-end products like caviar, foie gras, etc. Since then, I have been madly in love with food. At that time, I had no idea how much my love for food would impact my life,” Mendes said.

He added that he launched the MM selection when he returned to Croatia, all with the aim of imparting to Croatia everything he had learned about high-end gastronomy and to offer the national market “food of quality from all over the world”. Subsequently, it became one of the largest importers and distributors of world-renowned premium food brands, delicacies and wines from around the world.

Mendek appeared on the Croatian hotel scene about 25 years ago, and he was the very first to import the best Bordeaux wines to Croatia, and his company Kult Dioniza, which no longer exists, once held the best foreign wines. classics from all over Croatia, according to the Plava kamenica website.

They added that Mendek’s wine business went bankrupt in the middle of the first decade of this century. After that, he became a Croatian importer of luxury food products, and his first big customer was the famous Esplanade in Zagreb. Among other things, Mendek, according to media reports, imports French oysters, real caviar, Japanese beef, Sicilian gambero rosso and Spanish bluefin tuna.

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