Patrono

Blog

Guides from operations, not from the office.

Food cost, HACCP, scheduling, margins on delivery platforms, fiscalization. Concrete advice, not empty theory.

Market data·3 min

January vs August: what Croatian hospitality takes in each month.

In January 2026 Croatian hospitality took €335M on fiscalized receipts. In August it took €1.77B. The number of receipts only doubled. The size of the bill did the rest.

29 September 2026

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Market data·3 min

Average hospitality receipt by county, August 2026.

Istria took €438M in August on 8.1M receipts. Split-Dalmatia issued 11.4M receipts and took €342M. Same month, same sector, very different businesses.

29 September 2026

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Market data·3 min

Tips on fiscalized receipts in Croatia, 2025.

€52.6M in recorded tips across 12,971,046 receipts in 2025, with a summer peak that almost triples the average tip.

29 September 2026

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Food cost·3 min

A 10% supplier price rise, worked through one dish.

Ingredients up 10%, menu price unchanged. One dish, three numbers, and why the loss is easy to miss.

29 September 2026

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Market data·3 min

Restaurant and bar turnover: Croatia vs the EU since 2021.

Eurostat's turnover index for restaurants, bars and catering puts Croatia well ahead of the EU average since 2021, and still growing faster in 2026.

29 September 2026

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Integrations·3 min

Keep your POS: how Patrono reads revenue from the POS you already have.

Most restaurant software starts by replacing the POS. Patrono starts from the one you already have.

29 September 2026

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Food cost·9 min

Dish recipes: the table, an example and what the law requires.

In Croatia a recipe is a legal duty for every dish, drink and beverage. With purchase prices and waste it also shows whether the dish makes money.

22 April 2026

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Finance·7 min

Seven KPIs every restaurant owner should track weekly.

An owner who reviews the P&L once a month reacts a month late. Here are seven indicators measurable weekly that give time to act while you still can.

19 April 2026

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Food cost·6 min

How to reduce food cost in a restaurant: five concrete steps.

Food cost above 32% means margin is leaking somewhere through the kitchen. Here are five steps run by restaurants that now sit between 25 and 28%.

18 April 2026

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Integrations·6 min

How to choose a POS for a Croatian hospitality venue in 2026.

A POS gets replaced once every five years, too rare to choose by a friend's recommendation. Ten questions a vendor must answer in writing before you sign.

15 April 2026

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HACCP·8 min

What the sanitary inspector checks in a restaurant: HACCP checklist for 2026.

The inspector looks at the premises, documents, records, equipment and staff. The only daily record that Croatia's ordinance NN 124/2025 requires is the cold chain record. The other documents must be available on site.

12 April 2026

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Opening·7 min

How to open a restaurant in Croatia in 2026: permits, costs, the first 90 days.

Six steps from legal form to first guest: what the law requires, what it really costs and how much revenue you need so you do not run at a loss for months.

9 April 2026

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Scheduling·5 min

Shift scheduling in hospitality: how to build it so staff stop asking who works when.

Three rules that separate a clean schedule from chaos in a group chat: published a week ahead, swaps with approval, and a digest on the day.

5 April 2026

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Scheduling·7 min

Labor cost in hospitality: how to plan wages, shifts and overtime in 2026.

Labor cost in a restaurant is not just wages. Contributions, shift premiums, overtime and holidays can lift the total 30 to 40% above gross-gross pay. Here is what that looks like in practice.

2 April 2026

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Finance·6 min

How to calculate the real margin per item across three delivery platforms.

Gross revenue from delivery platforms is smaller than what shows up in the POS. Here is how to calculate real earnings per item per channel, with a concrete example.

28 March 2026

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Fiscalization·5 min

Fiscalization 2.0 for restaurants: e-invoices from 2026 and what to do.

From 1 January 2026, a VAT-registered hospitality business issues and receives e-invoices, and one that is not registered for VAT receives them. What this means for a restaurant, how to receive e-invoices and how to choose an information intermediary.

20 March 2026

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