Let's discover the brand Il Fruttuoso Carmelo: here is our interview

Il Fruttuoso Carmelo is a micro agricultural enterprise located in a small Molisan village,  Gambatesa, known for the presence of the Capua Castle, an elegant medieval manor of invaluable artistic and architectural value. The business is situated just a few hundred meters from the border with Puglia - here you can find all the typical products from Molise - and overlooks Lake Occhito, an artificial reservoir that precisely marks the boundary between the two regions.

The protagonist of this reality is Pasqualina Tirro, known to everyone as Lina, who today produces and packages jams, jellies, and mustards. Until a few years ago, Pasqualina was doing something else as a dental hygienist, but several times during her days, while heading to work, she passed by her parents' lands, "the farmhouses of Carmine" on Mount Carmel, a restorative place for her body and soul. She often looked at the trees laden with fruit that she never had time to collect, but one day she decided to stop and gathered all the fruit she could. She would never forget the surprised look on her son’s and husband’s faces when they saw her return with all that fruit. She turned it into jam: that was the first step toward her new activity. On July 16, 2013, the day dedicated to Our Lady of Carmel, she inaugurated the first laboratory in Gambatesa and chose to give her business a name that remembered the fertility of the family lands located in the Defenza area: “Il Fruttuoso Carmelo.”

The company is characterized by the production of exquisite jams, marmalades, mustards, and jellies, which can be used from a simple charcuterie and cheese board to more elaborate culinary preparations. Thanks to her tenacity and creativity, Lina has managed over the years to enrich her production, revisiting traditional recipes with dried fruits, spices, and flavors, achieving always original and versatile tastes. 
The laboratory is devoid of industrial machines: the transformation occurs following the traditional techniques, with slow cooking, pot, and spoon.

We love these realities, these producers of unique, certified, and multi-award-winning delicacies: they are true treasures embedded in our Peninsula among seas and mountains and in the most remote streets of villages and countryside. We don’t settle for just experiencing their products, but we want to get to know the protagonists of this brand more closely. That’s why we sent some questions to those who manage communication with us.

Stay with us to get to know Il Fruttuoso Carmelo: read the answers!
 

• Who are we talking to?
  Pasqualina Tirro, owner of the agricultural business.
   
• Is the company family-run? In what year was it founded?
  The company is family-run and has been operating since 2013.
   
• Who was the founder and what was their training or what was the working and professional field they came from if different from the current one?
  I am the founder, Tirro Pasqualina, and I started the activity in 2013. My previous working field was completely different as I had worked for 20 years as a dental hygienist.
   
• What is the true reason or triggering fact behind the birth of this company and when did it happen?
  The love for my land and the desire to recover everything that Nature provides, transforming seasonal fruits into jams, marmalades, and preserves to enjoy at any time of the year.
   
• What is your relationship with your land of origin and its uniqueness? And why do you want to tell its story with your products?
  I love the land from which I come, and from which my parents originate; it is my father who left me his plot of land, and in my products, I express the same love and care that he put into being a farmer for many years.
   
• What was the first product you created?
  Fig jam.
   
• What product do you consider to be your "flagship" today?
  Spicy chili pepper jam.
   
• And what is the product that has best carried the beating heart, philosophy, and soul of the business throughout its history?
  Always the spicy chili pepper jam.
   
• Talking about today: how much has the company grown since its inception? Can we have some numbers?
  In terms of hectares, it hasn’t expanded; in terms of production, certainly yes, moving from about 1000 packaged jars in the first year to about 3000 in 2020. 
   
• At this moment: more tradition or more innovation?
  Tradition above all, but with always a pinch of gastronomic innovation.
   
• What has been the most significant evolution of the company to arrive at what it is today?
  The one to "team up" with homologous companies with which we collaborate especially for product marketing.
   
• Talking about the future: what tomorrow awaits the company? Are there any planned changes or new evolutionary processes?
  In reality, none, except for reaching out more to e-commerce.
   
• Do you plan to create new products?
  Not at the moment.
   
• Having focused on Spaghetti & Mandolino, how important is online sales for you, what has your relationship been with this sales channel in the past, and how do you see it in the future?
  Given the size of the region we live in, e-commerce certainly represents a fundamental commercial outlet.
   
• Value: what has it been, what is it today, and what will it be in the future for your company?
  Passion.

S&M