The gastronomy of an area is one of the core determinants of culture and collective values of a nation occupying that area. If properly managed, it can become the image which represents that nation in the eyes of other cultures. To achieve this, its image must be carefully curated alongside the process of branding. Some of the strongest bonds between food and the culture they represent were made this way – pizza and Italy, sushi in Japan and hamburgers with the United States of America. This sort of connection results in an improved international image, which reflects positively onto different sectors such as production, the hospitality industry and tourism. Therefore, it is the goal of this Master's thesis to determine if there are sufficient prerequisites in Croatia to support the process of gastronomy branding as well as its potential in relation to other gastronomic powers, it's strengths and weaknesses and, finally, the changes that would have to happen on an institutional, restaurant, economic and other levels to open up space for the emancipation of Croatian cuisine. Using a semi-structured interview, five experts from the fields of gastro-journalism, cookery, hospitality and marketing have been consulted and, using qualitative analysis, their answers formed an image of the current state of Croatian gastronomy and its possible future. The results have shown that Croatian gastronomy carries great branding potential, especially when considering the number of high quality ingredients and the variety of its geo-gastronomic regions, however, they've also shown that many changes must be made on institutional, marketing and legislative levels before such a process can be initiated.