The Mavrovic Companies

In 1998, when Zeljko Mavrovic entered the ring with Lennox Lewis for the heavyweight title in the National World Boxing Championship, one American reporter described him as a “mohawked mystery man with a macrobiotic diet and his own private mantra.” Even though he lost, the reporter conceded admiringly, “Mavrovic himself, far from playing the part of a walkover that had been scripted for him, proved awkward and frustrating, occasionally aggressive, and much better at handling a punch than the U.S. fight mob might have guessed.” Zeljko became a hero in his native Croatia. Many hoped for him to make a comeback, but no one expected it to be in local food.

Today Zeljko is a recognized grain producer and baker, in a country where the diet is centered on bread. “I decided to invest the money I made in boxing”, says Zeljko, “in something that would not only allow me to continue to grow personally, but also to bring benefits to a larger community and to planet Earth.”

He is applying the principles he learned as a boxer—hard work and a balanced diet—to his businesses. The Mavrovic Companies now include four independent enterprises: two organic grain and animal farms; a bakery; a resource/ research center; and a marketing, sales, and distribution firm. Having grown into the biggest organic agricultural operation in Croatia, Zeljko finally appears to have scored the knockout his fans had hoped for.