Marko Srdanov was born in Belgrade where he spent a part of his childhood before moving with his parents, at 8 years of age, to Sydney, Australia.
He grew up in Australia, finishing his schooling and later got into private business. Every few years he would come to visit Serbia and in particular enjoyed visiting his grandparents house in Jovac village near the town of Kraljevo.
In Sydney, where he lived, at just 24 years of age he bought his first business and started working in the Australian music industry. The business was involved in studio work, copyright and distribution as well as other aspects of the music business.
Return to Serbia
The theme of this story is Marko’s decision to say goodbye to the music industry and fast life in the Australian metropolis and move his life to Serbia, the country from which he came. However, he did not return to his native Belgrade, but to Kraljevo and Jovac village to revive the heritage of his grandfather. He returned to the land his family had been working on since 1795, located near the monastery of Žica, where seven Serbian kings were crowned.
The initial trigger that led to his return to Serbia was the birth of his daughter, which significantly changed his view of life. In a discreet conversation he confided to me that he was very sorry that despite running his own business, because of many work obligations, he had only three days off for the birth of his daughter, compared to other people who are home every day at five o’clock and who get special leave for the birth of their children.
Another big factor was his health and the stresses coming from working 12-14 hour days. The final factor that made the move possible is tha he noticed that bit by bit over the years things were getting better in Serbia since the upheavals of the 1990’s.
“Even though many people in Serbia do not see it, I noticed the changes and the possibility to start something in Serbia. The breaking year was 2013 in July, when I came to Serbia with my wife and two-year-old daughter. During that trip for the first time I was thinking to myself this could work. We could make a life here and some seven weeks later we packed our bags and moved to Kraljevo where we are still today” said Srdanov with noticeable pleasure.
Asked about how his decision was accepted by his wife Philadelphia, originally from Fiji, Marko says that he had her full support.
“She loved Serbia and was my main support in making this decision. She likes the smaller environment, the easy pace and the people, the things she misses is her family and food. The variety of food is something I also miss quite a lot” explains Marko with a smile.
He also admitted to me that both were already very exhausted and not so much in love with the metropolis and busy lifestyle of Sydney anymore. In Jovac and Kraljevo they found themselves, and Marko points out that he has the feeling that he has found his place in the world. Believe it or not, this young man first chose agriculture for his venture, initially as an experiment, now it has grown into a more serious, completely new story.
“Jovac was always close to my heart when I was younger because of my Grandfather, my fathers father, he was very important to me as a child. Later, on my trips to Serbia in the summer, I always had the need to visit the village even for a short time. I really loved the village as a kid, despite growing up in Belgrade before moving to Australia. Nature has always attracted me. The little dogs, kittens, the space, the scents and smells of the countryside make me feel at home. Somehow, I always missed it despite living in such a great place like Australia and travelling all over the world. For me, the village gives me freedom and inspiration in contrast to the office in the big city where I felt suffocated.The physical work on the estate in Jovac recharges me and gives me great satisfaction. Working on the land made me realize that this was me and that it somehow makes me breathe differently. There was no feeling of transition moving from Sydney to Kraljevo, it’s like I’d been here my whole life. It’s a weird and nice feeling, somewhat difficult to explain”, explains Marko with a lot of joy in his voice.
In Jovac he first started with a pilot project, a blackberry plantation, which led him to the idea of the gin distillery. The idea came from his godfather Dragiša, who, while talking about the constant price variation of blackberries, asked the question „Why not make blackberry brandy?”
That was in September 2016 and from that moment Marko had a complete picture in his head. As he says, everything else is history.
“I had a vision to re-establish centuries-old tradition of distillation, important for my roots and our people. I saw it clear as daylight and although nothing is guaranteed, I knew that is what I had been looking for since arriving here. Nothing was hard for me and I did everything myself and with great pleasure” That was the start of the story of the Hajduk Spirit distillery.
I learn from Marko that other gins out in the market include botanicals from all over the world. He on the other hand wanted to make a gin with botanicals that grow in Serbia.
“Initial plans are to establish the brand here locally and also in the start of 2019 to enter various spirit beverage competitions around the world. In this way the world can see what a great premium gin from Serbia is like. I am convinced that the gin with wild bilberry and gentian from Serbia, will more than hold its own on the world stage” says Hajduk distillery founder Marko Srdanov, once a businessman in Australia, now an entrepreneur distiller in the Serbian village of Jovac near Kraljevo.