Looking to the future

We’re looking forward with curiosity and enthusiasm to the future, which will undoubtedly bring new developments and challenges. Our desire to keep on improving our products and surprise you with our fruit delicacies is our fondest joy and the driving force behind our efforts. Trust in the future together with us and keep on making new discoveries under the “ALPE PRAGAS” trademark.

New products…

In 2008 we cooked a lot and tried to create new recipes. Now we are proud to present you 3 new flavours of our fruit preserves 340g:

• Raspberry & Rhubarb
• Lemon & Strawberry
• Orange

With „Chiocolita …just lovely“ – the last creation of Alpe Pragas – we insert a new product line in summer 2008. „Chiocolita’s“ are cremes of fruit and chocolate and available in the following 4 flavours:

• Apricot – chocolate spread
• Chestnut – chocolate spread
• Peach – chocolate spread
• Orange – chocolate spread

Their dream and its first fruits

The Year was 1995. In the Braies Valley in Upper Val Pusteria surrounded by the towering peaks of the Dolomiti Alps with the famous Lake Braies at its end, two young farmers first dreamed of making the most of the excellent conditions for fruit cultivation offered by the Alpine climate.
Stefan Gruber, the company’s founder and a friend of his, Hartwig Weidacher, began planting fruit bushes on their land 1250 meters above sea level. The strawberries and raspberries they harvested were immediately distinguished by their intensely fruity scent and high sugar content. Firmly convinced of the quality of their products and their chances of success, the two young businessmen expanded the area under cultivation to 3 square hectares and began selling their fresh fruit to people in the surrounding villages.

Their first stewed fruit

The next harvest was just as satisfying; Stefan and Hartwig decided to try other species, such as currents and gooseberry, also deciding to begin processing their fruit themselves. Mother’s kitchen was the ideal place to start. They began putting up fruit preserves using classic Sud Tyrol methods and recipes. Even the first results were exquisite. They continued developing the process and ingredients and conducted extensive laboratory analysis. When the first batches were ready to go to market, they founded “Pragser Beeren” for the sale and distinction of the fruit they produced. In December, 1997 their first jars of stewed fruit - raspberries and strawberries, in this case - went on sale in gourmet delicatessens in Val Pusteria.

The ALPE PRAGAS trademark is registered

Their next step was to rent and furnish a premises for future production. Their approach was clearly defined from the start: the maximum in quality, from the fields to the finished product. The trademark of “ALPE PRAGAS” – an early name for the Braies Valley – was promptly registered in order to indicate both the origin and the quality of the product from the outset. In 1998, other types of stewed fruit and the first fruit syrups with the “ALPE PRAGAS” name went on sale in selected stores throughout the Sud Tyrol. The next year fruit preserves were produced for the first time. This lead to further enlargement of the high mountain meadows cultivated and the perfection of increasingly more refined recipes.

Rising demand & Development

The trademark’s reputation spread swiftly throughout the region; local connoisseurs appreciated the full taste of the fruit and the wholesomeness of the products. Customers in Northern Italian cities soon began placing orders. Production increased significantly in 2000, and the Stefan and Hartwig began processing fruit from other farmers - apricots from Val Venosta, for example - under the closet control.
The demand for new products rose continuously, and in 2001, the first line of spicy sweet-sour fruit preserve was created. These “chutneys” go fantastically well with certain types of local cheese, cold meat and game. The range of stewed fruit was also expanded with new fruits including apricot/rosehip, cherry, blackberry, and plum.

Their own productive unit

Production grew steadily, year after year, and the originally rented premises had become cramped. A new structure was required for production, and Stefan Gruber’s former dairy in Braies already used to store fruit in the past offered the ideal solution.
Little time was lost, and the new productive unit’s first stone was laid in early 2003, and by the end of the year the rooms were already ready for furnishing. Many types of process were rendered easier in the new production laboratories.
Sales activity had spread to another two provinces in Northern Italy in the meantime and demand for the products was rising abroad. ALPE PRAGAS products were soon placed on sale in Vienna, Munich, and Milan.

Production expansion and optimization

In tune with the ”food consciousness” trend, an assortment of low calorie products for people with diabetes was developed. In the meantime, the quantity of fruit harvested and processed exclusively by hand reached 25,000 kg per year. In the Spring of 2005, an important investment was made in a new product cooking and transfer system. The considerable time and effort required to put the new system into operation was rewarded with the optimization of productive procedures and the preservation of quality standards. For the first time, in fact, the fruit could be cooked at 65°C in a controlled atmosphere, in this way further reducing the thermal load and preserving a greater part of its precious vitamins. The sale of “ALPE PRAGAS” products increased again and the distribution network was now required to cover an area that extended from Northern Germany to Southern Italy.

The first exports

The Year 2006 marked the perfection of the products under all points of view. The first successful sales were recorded in Japan and the United Arab Emirates, further improvements in the cultivation and selection of the fruit were obtained by working closely with a number of producers, and a new Corporate Design study led to slight modifications in the 340 g and 120 g jars and a change in the labelling.