The Gligora Dairy history is related to the life and work of its founder and owner Ivan Gligora and his family.

Ivan Gligora was born in 1950 into a traditional agricultural family in Kolan, Ivan’s father and fathers before them were all skilled in the art of cheese making and husbandry, passing on the artisan skills through the generations of the Gligora family.
Ivan’s primary school was completed on the island before he moved to Rijeka to study for a teaching qualification. However, financial hardship fell upon the family and Ivan had to leave before he completed his degree. Determined to finish his education, Ivan realises that the only way to a full degree would be a scholarship. He learnt that ‘Zagreb Creamery’ was looking for students to study in the dairy industry and they duly gave Ivan a scholarship. Schooled in the town of Kranj in Slovenia, Ivan became the only educated technologist from all the islands of Croatia, so they sent him back to his native Pag to work in their ‘RO Pag Dairy’.

Looking for more challenges, Ivan left the Island of Pag once more, this time for the City of Zadar where he transferred to the pure dairy cultures department of Zagreb Creamery. Ivan worked here for the next 20 years, during which time his knowledge, skills and insight were rewarded with promotion to Head of Production, with a growing reputation, Ivan became one of Croatia’s most respected dairy technologists.

During the war in the 1990s, Zadar was under constant shelling and attack, but Ivan continued to work and help supply the city with fresh dairy product. After these difficult years, Ivan and his family, wife Maria and children Marina and Šime, decided to move back to their native Pag, where Ivan was employed again in the same factory, now called Paška Sirana, as Head of Production and Sales.

No doubting the quality of his cheese and in particular his Paški Sir, Ivan exhibited at numerous exhibitions. For two years in a row his cheese was a winner at the Zagreb Fair in the dairy products category. And after entering into the All Croatian Fair, Ivan won his first Gold Medal. Next he set out to conquer Europe. In Italy, amongst some of the finest cheese from around the world, Ivan added two more Gold Medals to his collection.

The international association of ‘Sant Fortunat’ which promotes equality in all areas of human life, awarded Ivan the Padua Medal for his contribution to the quality of human life. Today, Sirana Gligora directly employ 27 people and the dairy contributes to the lives of over 200 local farmers who help to supply fresh Pag milk for the production of Paški Sir.

In 2008, 2009 and 2010, Gligora Dairy won the right to put the prestigious 3 star Superior Taste Award from the International Quality and Taste Institute on its Paški Sir. Gligora is the only producer of Paški Sir to carry this mark, and one of only a few companies in Croatia to obtain it. In addition, Ivan Gligora’s Paški Sir is the only Paški Sir to be awarded ‘Croatian Origin Product’ (Croatian Chamber of Commerce) and to be certified Kosher.

In 2010, Ivan put the crown on his many years of work in the construction of a new and modern equipped Dairy in Kolan. In a very short time, he managed to meet the rigorous conditions for the tender and refund from EU funds. The family and all involved were able to build and equip this sophisticated Dairy in just 6 months.

Today, the new Gligora Dairy employs 27 people and produces more than 50 tones of Paški Sir in a year, as well as over 150 tones of other cheese products. Gligora buys milk from over 200 of the islands shepherds.

Ivan’s son, Šime, who has a masters degree in Agriculture, continues his fathers work and leads the production of the new Dairy. Šime has won quality titles at the Zagreb Fair with Paški Sir, as well as a Silver Medal at the Nantwich International Cheese Awards in the UK, one of the biggest events on the world calendar with over 3000 entries from around the world.