THE COMPANY

THE HOUSE OF FLAVOURS

Our grandfather Renato was stocking his farmer's tools in this tiny valley,

sheltered by the forest where corn was cultivated.

Right in this place we have built our Casa dei Sapori - Hiša Okusov:

an artisanal lab, where we create our products, day by day, season after season.

WHO WE ARE

I dedicate myself to this honourable and wonderful job with passion and devotion, but all of this wouldn't be possible without the support of my husband Pavel, my tireless coworkers Nikol, Matjaž, Barbara and all my family. The fruit trees, the vegetables and the herbs grow in a peaceful, healthy environment, away from the noise and chaos of the urban environment. This farming approach aligns with natural agriculture principles, emphasizing sustainable methods and seasonal cycles. Respecting our Earth, gives us in return the genuine taste of our ingredients. To preserve Her we choose sustainable farming practices, such as crop rotation, natural pest management, organic fertilisers, shallow tillage, seeding, transplanting and pruning following the lunar calendar.

PAVEL

He is the family's beekeeper. His passion and dedication to the bees started a long time ago and since that moment he never stopped taking care of them. His commitment and hard work is reflected in the outcome. Our beehives are located away from pollution sources. This is beneficial for the bees who collect the nectar in an healthy environment and produce a simple pure honey, characterised by unique and traditional tastes. Observing our educational beehive we peer into the magical and organized world bees inhabit, for a better understanding of the ways they build comb, store nectar…

NIKOL

She is my right-arm man. With a great passion for animals and nature, I can trust her with my eyes closed. We can find her appearing from a shed interacting with animals, guiding an educational activity in our farm or in our vegetable garden and orchard, or in our shop labelling our products, or in our kitchen creating new genuine delicacies just adding lemon and sugar. Without preservatives or artificial thickeners. The production - distribution chain is extremely short: goes directly from our farm/garden to your tables. Not only jams, but also syrups, pickled vegetables, tomato sauce, herbs, fresh harvested fruit and vegetables. They all testimony our family's commitment in taking care of the excellence of our land.

MATJAŽ

He is our all-rounder, versatile, multitasking, adaptable, animal loving and expert in any manual job. He takes care of our orchard and our vegetable garden, the machinery and green maintenance, building shed, stables and shelters, making hay for our animals friends. He has the ability to always find the right solution for any structural problem in our farm.

BARBARA

She represents us all at the Campagna Amica farmer's market in Gorizia. At our counter you can find our products but also local cheese, meat, olive oil, rice, pasta, flour and other limited edition goods. Barbara is a trusted person, always reliable, she's competent and capable in explaining, suggesting and transmitting our passion for our job.

A SUSTAINABLE IMPACT

Our philosophy is the "zero kilometer" philosophy, which in Italian means eating healthy food obtained working in synergy with the nature and the produces and resources she donates us.

All our creations are sold in our family's restaurant, Lokanda Devetak, and the guests of our eight rooms can taste them for breakfast. Other farmers sell them too in many other shops in Friuli Venezia Giulia.

Since 2014 we use a biomass boiler, where we produce healthy heating for our farm activities and for the restaurant Lokanda Devetak.

Our farm operates in compliance with HACCP regulations. We use two HACCP self-control manuals for implementing food safety and hygiene from raw materials to consumption. One manual is for the preserves' lab and the pork meat production facility, the other one is for the lab where honey is made. They both have a company number: IT0620210013 e IT0610202606.

For the honey production we use a PH measuring instrument, evaluating the brix grade, the sugar contained in it and a refractometer, measuring the correct honey humidity.