Gravinarija | brand and product development

A few years ago, my brother Ivan and I began an unusual experiment on our home island of Brač.

We grew up surrounded by the sun, stone, and fruit cultures of Dalmatia, yet mandarins were never seen as something with real potential here. Prices dropped, people uprooted their orchards, and the fruit was considered too ordinary for anything beyond fresh consumption.

Before removing the mandarin field I had bought, I called Ivan, then a student of food technology, and asked whether this fruit could become something more. Everyone we spoke to, from friends to professionals, said the same thing, “It is useless for production.”

But we did not agree.

During his studies in wine technology, Ivan saw a possibility. He called me in Ljubljana, where I was teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, and said, “I think I know what we can do with mandarins – wine.”

That moment changed everything.

We bought equipment, made a plan, and spent the next three years learning through trial and error. Ivan used every resource at his faculty, and I contributed design, structure, and vision. Understanding mandarins took years, countless experiments, mistakes, and adjustments, until we finally created a 14 percent mandarin wine.

But the real breakthrough came by accident. During the pandemic, when borders were closed and we could not work together, Ivan mailed me three small bottles so I could choose the right sugar level. When I opened them in Ljubljana, the wine was no longer wine, it was sparkling.
A natural second fermentation had happened during transport. In that instant, everything became clear. This was not fruit wine. This was something entirely new.

From that discovery, we created Gra1, the first product of a brand we named Gravinarija, a complete formula, a refined process, and a full visual identity shaped through my studio practice.

The entire brand package, the concept, the formula, the process, and the design, is fully developed and available for someone with vision to continue the story. If you are interested in acquiring a ready made innovation rooted in Dalmatian heritage and crafted with precision, feel free to reach out directly.