Analysis of competitiveness of apple production on Croatian family farms

The objective of this paper is to investigate the main characteristics of apple production competitiveness in ten Croatian family farms and their comparison with the most competitive regions for apple production. There are six factors in the analysis and assessment of the competitiveness of apple production: yield per hectare, market access, yield quality, production safety, access to capital and orchard area. We have been researching how satisfied the owners of Croatian family farms are with their competitiveness, according to the stated factors and how they rank in relation to the most competitive world producers. The research was conducted using a survey questionnaire that was distributed online during February 2021 to a sample of ten Croatian family farms with a plantation area of 4 to 20 hectares.