X\Michael Komiss and his wife Verena were apple farmers, the same as all their neighbours around the Neufeldhof farm close to Bolzano/Bozen. And they still are, enthusiastically and unequivocally. Yet, some years ago, both became uncomfortable with developments that favoured ever bigger, more intensively managed apple orchards. And so, in 2002, they instead began processing their fruit independently, drying apple rings and marketing their own products.

Today, their range of dried fruit with the South Tyrolean seal of quality also includes persimmons, pears, plums and apricots. Selling their products directly to customers enables the family to process the fruit it grows. “Only perfect fruits can be used for our dried fruit products. Precise processing and the desire to create genuine products always provides us with fresh motivation”, says Michael Komiss.

Even at 95 years of age, Grandma was still diligently lending a hand with great energy and enthusiasm. And no wonder, since the way fruit is processed at Frutty is still very much the way it always was. Untreated fruits are first washed, cored and cut, then they are laid on latticed wooden racks – called “Horden” – by hand, without adding any sugar. Next, these racks are placed in large dehydrating cabinets where moisture is removed from the fruit through the circulation of warm air.

The Komiss family derives enormous pleasure from its work. Above all, this comes from the personal contact with customers that direct marketing affords them, the greater value this way of working creates and the multifaceted nature of their work: from tending the fruit trees right up to packaging the products.