Katarina driver nettbutikken MARQT.NO der hun selger varer fra blant annet Kroatia og de fleste produktene som hun selger er laget av kvinnelige produsenter. Katarina forklarer at de fleste produktene hun selger (de spiselige, vel og merke) passer perfekt til norske matvarer selv om hennes produkter er fra Middelhavsregionen. Og hun har så rett. Jeg har prøvd flere av hennes herlige produkter og det er som hun sier. De passer også sammen med norske ingredienser.

Du leser nå et uttrekk fra intervju med HellesKitchen - Kvalitet og kjærlighet fra Kroatia

Jeg har tatt en prat med Katarina. Fordi Katarina snakker engelsk velger jeg å publisere intervjuet på engelsk også. Det føles mest naturlig.

How come you ended up in Norway?

– Love, of course! I believe people that are passionate about good food are also sometimes endlessly romantic like myself. It happens that I fell in love with Pontus, Swede living in Norway. We met through a sailing trip in Croatia. Since then I have been living between Oslo, Croatia and elsewhere around the world for the past three years. Due to my work (and pleasure) I travel a lot, well back in the days at least I did. I officially moved full time to beautiful Norway this summer.

In the jungle of quality products available in Norway, why did you decide to start importing products from Croatia to Norway?

– Besides Croatian products, we also import Italian products, and even some South African items that we believe are aligned with our business.
I have worked in the hospitality industry for the past 15 years. So this idea was poking me for quite some time, but it happened that I started to realize it in Norway. At home we cook a lot, both my partner and I are interested in food and nutrition. Feeling nostalgic for authentic Mediterranean products in Oslo, I slowly started my market research, and here I am.

– I believe that it is so important to know what you eat and where your products come from. I love buying from small producers – people that put their passion, hard work and love into something. It is genuine. It is real. My late grandparents were making their olive oil, so I think a seed was planted right there with them. 

I agree Norway has lots of quality products, but I felt a lack of Mediterranean products coming directly from small producers. I lived in Amsterdam, London, Hong Kong and Buenos Aires for a more extended period, so I always do cross-comparison. I’m not fond of re-labelling. I think even bottle choice and design is part of a producer’s identity. Some of our producers produce little as 1,500 litres of olive oil per year. Pure love and passion bottled. Both my partner and I saw a great opportunity and potential to connect people in Norway with the Mediterranean boutique producers that we believe complement greatly with local Norwegian products.

I’m very proud to say that we personally vetted all products available at MARQT.NO. So at our shop, you will find many high-quality products, most of them award-winning, that are as delicious and healthy as possible for both individuals and the planet.

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Les hele intervjuet i lenken under:

HellesKitchen - Kvalitet og kjærlighet fra Kroatia