Vital Vrbas

About Vital Vrbas

Industrial production of edible oil in the Balkans recorded its beginnings in the town of Vrbas in Vojvodina. In 1855, the entrepreneurial merchant Jakob Lenji built the first oil processing workshop in this town, on the banks of the Old Channel. Nobody could imagine that the commissioning of this small plant would, in fact, lay the foundation of a future mighty industrial giant - VITAL factory. Lenji’s factory began its production with the use of a manual and animal-driven unrefined oil strainer. Prevailing raw materials included hemp, pumpkin seed and oilseed rape. All until 1929 crude vegetable oil was not processed in Vrbas, but in Budapest, where the Lenji family owned a refinery. The third and the fourth decade of the 20th century, when the founder’s grandson, Joseph Lenji, was the head of the factory, were very significant for the development of the first oil factory in the Balkans. During this period, the production was substantially modernized, new equipment and refinery were purchased, so the whole process of production of edible oil was completely established in this factory in Vrbas. The first sunflower oil was made in this oil factory in the thirties of the last century. Since then, sunflower has been the basic raw material in its production and today it represents a kind of a factory emblem. Today, Vital is one of the largest food manufacturers in the country. This is the factory whose production of oil, margarine, vegetable fat, vegetable ghee, mayonnaise and ketchup is based on the latest technology. Through the application of a strict quality control system for all products with the introduction of FSSC 22000 quality system, HALAL and HACCP system, the use of its own laboratory and the use of modern methods in application of the latest technological advances in product development, Vital today achieves its objective by strengthening the existing and developing the new market position.