From the roots of one person grows the story of many:

The story of Smrekovit

When Ivo Konc created the first spruce resin ointment more than 30 years ago, he had no idea that this simple idea would grow into a company that still follows the same values today: nature, tradition, and effectiveness. We proudly continue his mission today.
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Our story

From the first box to the trust of thousands

Smrekovit wasn’t created in a laboratory. It was born in the heart of a man who believed that nature heals – and showed it to others as well.

1974

Ivo Konc encounters spruce resin for the first time

Because of severe lower-back pain he had suffered since childhood after a meningitis infection, he sought help from a folk healer, Prežla from Lesce, who treated him with sticky resin compresses. Later, when he injured his finger, he made his first resin ointment – and that’s how the Smrekovit story began.
Ivo Konc makes spruce ointment

1989

The first boxes of spruce resin ointment

In improvised home conditions in front of the family house garage, Ivo Konc made his first spruce resin ointment and gave it to friends. That’s how a story began which the whole country would later come to know.
Ivo Konc makes spruce ointment

1990 

The beginning of sales and expansion across Yugoslavia

After an overwhelming response from the people, Ivo starts to produce the ointment in large quantities and sells it all over Yugoslavia. No advertising - word of mouth.
Ivo Konc makes spruce ointment

1996

High-profile interview in Our Wife magazine

In an interview for the popular magazine *Naša žena*, Ivo Konc presented the story of the spruce resin ointment. The article sparked great interest – some users even say they still keep a copy.
Ivo Konc makes spruce ointment

2001

The first TV interview about the ointment (GTV)

Ivo publicly presents the ointment on television for the first time – in the GTV talk show he shares his experiences and his view on natural healing. Smrekovit steps into the public eye.

2010

The takeover of the company and the creation of the Smrekovit brand

Matic Konc takes over his father’s work and transforms a personal story into the modern Smrekovit brand – with a new name, vision, and visual identity.
Ivo Konc transfer of the company Play icon

2017

A new generation of products

Alongside the classic ointment, an entire line of natural spruce-resin products is created: creams, oral sprays, capsules … All with the same purpose – to help naturally.
Ivo Konc makes spruce ointment

2019

Obtaining Vegan and Organic certificates

Smrekovit receives certifications confirming that the products are natural, free of animal-derived ingredients, and produced according to ecological standards. The commitment to nature becomes official.
Ivo Konc makes spruce ointment

2020

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2024

Various media features

During this period, Smrekovit appears several times in various local and national media. The last interview with Ivo Konc was published just a few months before his passing in April 2025, in Glas Občine Naklo – a touching tribute to his life’s mission.
Ivo Konc makes spruce ointment

2022

Opening of the first Smrekomat

The first self-service point without staff is created, allowing people to pick up products at any time. Accessibility, trust, and local presence take on a new form.
Ivo Konc makes spruce ointment

2023

Smrekovit on national television in the show “Podjetno naprej”

The story of perseverance, nature, and a family business is presented by Matic on national television. Smrekovit earns its place among Slovenian entrepreneurial stories.
Today
Smrekovit remains true to nature, to people, and to the vision that began in front of a family garage. The story continues every day – with everyone who believes in the power of resin.
Ivo Konc makes spruce ointment

How Smrekovit Was Created

A step out of pain – the beginning of the story

Smrekovit was not born out of a business idea, but out of pain. Ivo Konc suffered from severe lower back pain as a child, as a result of tick-borne meningitis. Over the years, the problems intensified, to the point where he was exempted from taking the practical part of the exams while studying at the Faculty of Sport, as well as from compulsory military service in the JNA. When his doctor advised surgery as the only way to avoid disability, he decided to look for another way - naturally.

In 1974, he found a folk healer in Lesce, Mrs Prežla, who helped him by coating him with sticky spruce resin. The effect was remarkable. Fifteen years later, when he injured his finger, he used the resin to make his first homemade ointment. It worked - and Smrekovit was born.
Ivo Konc on the 30th anniversary of Smrekovit, 2020.

From a home craft to the trust of the people

In 1989 Ivo Konc made the first spruce ointment, and in 1990 he started his own business. No marketing, no online shop - just word of mouth. His ointment quickly found its way to many who trusted him for his experience, not his promises. It was the stories of users who first encountered spruce resin that spread Smrekovit across municipal borders - and even the borders of the former country.

To date, several generations of users have changed - but the same ingredient remains: spruce resin. And the same philosophy: a simple, effective, natural product.

New generation – same vision

In 2010, the company was taken over by his son Matic Konc. With his in-depth knowledge of chemistry, laboratory equipment and vision for development, he began to build on his father's legacy. In 2015, Smrekovit moved to Ljubljana and a year later the first new products were launched: Sprukovite 365, Sprukovite Extra in tube, capsules, oral spray.

But the point remains the same: the human being is at the centre. And at the heart of every product - the resin.

Matic Konc – the continuation of his father's vision

 Matic Konc took over the company in 2010 – not as an entrepreneur, but as a son who believed in the power of nature and in his father’s vision. He is a laboratory biomedicine engineer and a physical education teacher by profession.

Even as a student, he began developing new products based on spruce resin, which he had known all his life – not only as an ingredient, but as a symbol of home, effort, and a natural solution.

After 2015, Smrekovit gained a modern identity, laboratory support, and new products under his leadership – Smrekovit 365, Smrekovit Ekstra in a tube, capsules, and the oral spray.

In 2025, his father, Ivo Konc, the late founder of Smrekovit, left behind a rich legacy. It continues to live on today – in the products, in the values, and in every person who believes in the power of spruce resin.

The faces of the Smrekovit story

Matic Konc Play

Matic Konc

Director and Developer

The founder’s son and the current head of the company. Even as a student, Matic began developing new products while preserving what had always been sacred to his father – trust in spruce resin. He combines chemical expertise, respect for tradition, and a sense for what is simple yet effective.
Ivo Konc Play

Ivo Konc

Founder of Smrekovit

Founder of Smrekovit. He was a man with a strong inner sense of nature, simplicity and helping people - so he never wanted big words, but effective solutions. His spruce ointments were created out of conviction, not marketing.
Lord, grant him eternal rest.
Anton Lorenzutti Play

Anton Lorenzutti

Collecting resin

One of Smrekovit’s first external collaborators and the long-time caretaker of spruce resin. His work is quiet, precise, and reliable – and without him, the products as we know them today would not exist. He refined his expertise over the years, always with a deep respect for nature.
Roman Perko Play

Roman Perko

Smrekovit therapies

He performs Smrekovit therapies and continues the work that Ivo began with skill and intuition. Roman is the one who listens to people, understands them, and helps even when other paths fail. His closeness to people is what makes the Smrekovit therapy truly holistic.

A therapy born from spruce resin

In the 1990s, Ivo Konc, the founder of Smrekovit, noticed while developing his first spruce resin products that the ointment was especially effective for problems originating in the spine – whether they appeared as lower-back pain, shoulder pain, hip pain, or even headaches. Since he could not find suitable therapeutic approaches for such cases, he set out on a long path of independent research. He combined anatomical knowledge and traditional methods with his own observations from practice.

Over time, he developed his own method of mechanical therapy – the Smrekovit manipulative therapy, based on precise manual adjustment of joints and vertebrae. He performed it exclusively in combination with the ointment and often free of charge, driven by the desire to help.

His approach attracted a great deal of interest among users. People shared how, after years of unsuccessful attempts with conventional medicine or other therapists, it was Ivo and the spruce resin therapy who helped them regain mobility and reduce pain. Despite this, he never marketed the therapy as a service – it remained part of his personal mission.

After Ivo’s passing, the therapy is no longer officially performed within the company, but with his permission and knowledge it is still carried out by Roman Perko, a former junior world champion in Nordic combined, who spent years working alongside Ivo and learning from him.

If you would like to learn more about this method or wish to consult regarding your case, you can contact Roman directly:

Quality and compliance certificates

BIO certificate Smrekovit
95% of the ingredients in the certified products come from organic farming. The certificate is awarded by the Institute for Control and Certification in Agriculture and Forestry Maribor.

Organic certificate

VEGAN certificate Smrekovit
Our certified products contain no ingredients of animal origin. We do not conduct animal testing and use only plant-based ingredients. The certificate is issued by the Institute for Control and Certification in Agriculture and Forestry Maribor.

VEGAN certificate

Most of the ingredients in the certified products come from organic farming. The certificate is issued by the Institute for Control and Certification in Agriculture and Forestry Maribor.

BIO (natural products with BIO ingredients)

The internal food safety control system is established in accordance with HACCP principles.

HACCP – company statement

With us for decades

Trust that is passed on from generation to generation.
“We are very satisfied with Smrekovit products as a whole family. They help with many issues (heel spur, pain, colds …). I trust Smrekovit and Mr. Matic Konc, who knows how to advise and help people.”
“Smrekovit 365 cream is indispensable in our family. It resolved a fungal nail infection and helped with swelling and cough. The company is very socially and environmentally responsible.”
“My husband and I have been using Smrekovit ointments for years. The oral spray has even strengthened our teeth. We always receive professional and accurate advice. Thank you, Mr. Matic Konc.”

Diverse voices of trust

Meta Palčič Play

Meta Palčič

One of the first retailers of Smrekovit

Meta Palčič is the founder of the shop Meta in Radovljica, established in the 1990s – just like Smrekovit. She has been working with our company since the very beginning. You can watch what she said about us for the national TV programme “Podjetno naprej” in the video above.
Matjaž Zupan Play

Matjaž Zupan

Ski jumping legend

Matjaž Zupan is a multiple national champion and an Olympic team silver medallist, later also a ski jumping coach. He has been a user of Smrekovit products practically since the very beginning. In the video above, you can see what he said about us in a programme on national television.
Roman Perko Play

Roman Perko

Athlete and therapist

Roman Perko was a junior world champion in Nordic combined, and today he performs Smrekovit therapies, continuing the work started by Ivo Konc. In the excerpt from the national TV programme “Podjetno naprej”, you can hear what he said about our business relationship.
Read other experiences

In the media

Posts, interviews and articles in which we participated at the invitation of editorial teams. No ads. No PR. Only content written by real life.
The very first media appearance and a highly impactful interview about the beginnings of the Smrekovit ointment and the personal journey of Ivo Konc.

Naša žena – interview with Ivo Konc (1996)

Ivo Konc, both personally and professionally, featured in the programme “Znani neznani obrazi” on Gorenjska Television.

Gorenjska Television – interview with Ivo Konc (2001)

Matic Konc speaks to the Aleteia website about balancing family life with business responsibilities.

Harmony of successful business and family – Matic Konc on the Aleteia website (2018)

A workshop titled “Something healthy, sweet and edible from the forest”, where Matic Konc demonstrates how to make traditional spruce resin ointment and chewing gum.

Forestry Institute – workshop (2019)

The story of Ivo Konc, who created the first spruce resin ointment out of his own pain, and his son Matic, who continues his work with the support of chemical expertise. The article also describes the therapeutic effect of the products and the journalist’s personal experience.

Pomagaj si sam - 
Miracle Spruce Resin (2020)

In the TV Ljubljana programme, Matic Konc explains what spruce resin is and how Smrekovit came to be.

TV Ljubljana – interview with Matic Konc (2020)

Matic Konc talks about his early beginnings, taking over the Smrekovit company, developing new products, and a business philosophy that resists chasing profit. An honest and inspiring insight into the story of a family business and the power of spruce resin.

Worrying solves nothing -
Interview with Matic Konc in Demokracija (2021)

An interview with Matic Konc in the weekly magazine Domovina. About the company, scientific research, and spruce resin as a gift of nature.

There is no more effective substance than spruce resin -
Interview with Matic Konc in Domovina (2022)

A highly noted programme in which Matic Konc shares his views on entrepreneurship and the world, as well as the story of Smrekovit.

RTV Slovenia – Matic Konc in the programme Podjetno naprej (2023)

Personal reflections by Matic Konc in the “Men’s Secrets” column on the Aleteia website.

Humility is the only weapon – Matic Konc on the Aleteia website (2023)

Matic Konc’s personal reflection on life and mission.

Entrepreneur with a rosary in his hand - article about Matic Konc in Naša družina magazine (2024)

An article on the history, composition, and use of spruce resin in traditional folk medicine.

The secrets of spruce resin – a contribution by Matic Konc in Družinska pratika (2024)

The last interview with Ivo Konc, just a few months before his death. He presents himself in a very personal way. 

The mission of Ivo Konc from Podreber – an interview with Ivo Konc in the local newspaper (2024)

Frequently asked questions