Víno Mrva & Stanko has been nominated for the Félix Business Award in the category Outstanding Family Business.
On the edge of Trnava stands a modern winery. It includes stylish wine cellars, a guesthouse and a restaurant. The grounds also feature two courtyards: one named Vladimír Mrva Square and the other Peter Stanko Square.
Félix Business Award
A business prize promulgated by the INDEX magazine and Slovenská Sporiteľňa bank in cooperation with partners. It is awarded to inspiring and socially responsible companies and municipalities for activities that contribute to the prosperity and modernisation of the country. The winners will be announced in October.
These are the founders of Víno Mrva & Stanko, who together built one of the most modern wineries in Slovakia. Their products are recognised by the wine community at international competitions, although the average consumer may not be very familiar with their brand.
From the outset the two men, who hail from Trnava, built their business plan on avoiding the production of supermarket wines, instead targeting a more specific group of customers.
Around the Mrva & Stanko brand they created an aura of uniqueness, which allowed them to survive in a highly competitive market saturated with imported wines. Yet it is not elitism, as it might appear, since their goal is to produce wine for all who love it.
A strong pillar of their business is daily work on subtle marketing, based on organising tastings through which they spread awareness of the brand.
Talking inspiration from Austrian winemaking
Mrva and Stanko founded their company in 1997, though they had been moving in close proximity for some time before that. They were introduced by a mutual acquaintance, who helped to connect two different entrepreneurial stories.
Stanko had studied industrial economics and launched an advertising agency. When he met Mrva, a winemaker to his bones, he offered to help with marketing, wine sales and label design.
