The company was established on 15 September 1916 in the capital city of Zagreb as Prva hrvatska tvornica ulja d. d. ("The First Croatian Oil Factory"), prompted by the decision of the Royal Croatian-Slavonian-Dalmatian Government of the Land to prohibit import of oilseeds, as well as by the lack of animal fats on the market due to wartime circumstances.

Most members of the Alexander family, who were Jewish, either fled the country or perished in the Holocaust, and all of their assets including that of Prva hrvatska tvornica ulja were seized and transferred to another joint-stock company, Povlašteno hrvatsko industrijsko trgovačko d. d.

[5] Due to association with the anti-fascist resistance movement of Yugoslav Partisans, the red star on the logo and branding of the company and its products was censored and replaced with a black circle.

[2][6] In the early 1970s, TUZ accounted for over one-third of edible vegetable fats consumption in Yugoslavia, rivaling Dijamant from SR Serbia.

[7] As Croatia seceded from Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, Tvornica ulja Zagreb underwent privatisation and was acquired by Agrokor in 1993, and had been renamed Zvijezda d. d. in 1995.

The old station at Knez Branimir Street was simultaneously maintained and continuously upgraded alongside the new site at Žitnjak, and had been working in full force until the 1980s.

[6] The old building was eventually fully abandoned by 1995, throughout the Croatian War of Independence, and the modern Zvijezda continues to operate in Žitnjak ever since.

[10] As of 2022[update], Zvijezda is the Croatian nationwide leader in the market share of all its flagship products, including oil (at 57%), margarine (at 69%), mayonnaise (at 65%), and ketchup (at 47%).