News

Partnerships boosting mountain businesses

05.08.2016

The habitat offered by the Monti Sibillini National Park, Central Italy, suits the wild boar so well, there comes a point when wild boars are too prolific, and as part of the Park’s conservation work, a studied and controlled cull is agreed.

Mountain writer Tamara Griffiths spoke with Amedeo Tuccini, who runs a ‘rifugio’ located in the Monti Sibillini Park, at Altino – 1 045 metres altitude. He has been leading a project with the park to make use of this culled meat.

Wild meat cannot be processed in the same way as industrially farmed meat and due to health regulations, it was impossible to sell wild boar that was culled. After years of work, the park has been able to fulfil European Union (EU) regulations, and have wild meat specially processed at two pre-existing slaughterhouses.

Here is how it works:

Hunters who want to participate in the project have to first undertake a month-long training programme offered by the park, teaching them about the species and its interrelation with the biodiversity of the park. Upon successful completion the hunter is awarded a special licence.

The Park Authority together with the Corpo Forestale dello Stato select 200 designated culling sites, which are marked with GPS. The 30 hunters taking part this year must register their presence at the site they go to and register any animals obtained. Apparently, the animal experiences little ‘stress’ because it is shot in its natural environment, without a chase, by a highly trained hunter, who then puts the dead animal in his jeep and drives to the slaughterhouse.

Within an hour, to an hour and a half, the meat is being processed. Unlike industrially produced meat, wild meat must be hung. Depending on the age and weight of the boar, some are hung for up to two weeks in a refrigerated room at the slaughterhouse. During this time, medical tests are made to check the meat is fit for human consumption (without diseases).

The hunter then pays the slaughterhouse and receives the paperwork required to sell the meat to the public - to butcher shops or restaurants. However, local hunters involved in the project, find the cost of €90 per wild boar, too high. Amedeo has worked with three mountain villages to form an alliance to open a dedicated slaughterhouse for this project, inside the park, which will be more accessible and much more economical.

Now the local authorities of these villages have secured EU funding through the Regione Marche, the regional authority, to begin the enterprise.

This year the park set a target to cull 1 500 wild boar. What would otherwise have been wasted meat now represents a micro-economy. Despite the recession, Amedeo is opening a second rifugio inside the park.

Similar to the structure at Altino, this rifugio is one that has changed hands frequently due to lack of profitability. Many struggle to make these small mountain rifugio financially viable.

I asked Amedeo, what is the secret to success?

“The wild boar meat is a big part of it,” he says.

The rifugio at Altino has become renowned for the wild boar dish they serve, which was featured at Milan Expo 2016.

“We are listed in the top 17 of the 800 most recommended restaurants on Trip Advisor for this area. The wild boar dish we make has become famous. People come from Rome just to try it,” Amedeo explains.

Apart from the amazing taste of the meat, the fame of this dish is also due to another ingredient. The wild boar is served with the ‘Mele Rosa’, or the ‘Pink Apple’, which is a heritage food listed in the Slow Food Ark of foods to be protected. In the 1980s a few cultivators in the mountains realized they possessed the last of these apple trees and formed an action group. Now this has become a heritage food promoted by the region. Being a historic/wild apple it is particularly crisp and tangy.

“The Mele Rosa is growing right here at Altino, wild, anyway. I go to the specified hunting sites near Altino, so these foods are really local. This apple with the boar is a very traditional dish. When people come to mountains, most people want traditional food. But high quality. That is why this dish has been such a success,” Amedeo says.

When I point out examples of other rifugio in the park offering good traditional food – although not so special as the wild boar – and comment on how they are struggling, he elaborates:

“Everything is about publicity these days, right? So for the new rifugio I hired a young girl who is good at social media and she will be promoting the structure. But more than that is needed. … We hired a professional company to design a website. Our accommodation is advertised on ‘booking.com’ which is one of the biggest sites in the world.”

He mentions how other rifugio in the park, operated by his friends, since he has grown up in these mountains, wait for business to come to them, which is no longer enough. People in the mountains are now generally aware of the importance of publicity.

“I think the most important thing is to know your territory and promote your territory, not just your business,” he concludes after a moment’s thought. “I contacted the Club Alpini Italiani in Fermo – a few of them are old friends – and I got them to come here and work with me, to open up old hiking routes that had been forgotten because I knew these routes would be good for visitors. We will do more at the new rifugio as well and try to connect it to other places. When visitors ask me what they can do, I don’t just tell them about the things nearby. I tell them about the best places in the park, the best places in relation to their hiking ability.’

Part of knowing your territory is also being involved in many groups, organizations, alliances and working with other businesses. Amedeo networks extensively, beyond what most people can do.

In addition, there is the simple fact of being open every day of the year. Amedeo has made a version of the wild boar dish with peaches in the summer, since the apples are not available then. Being able to offer this meal all year has been an important factor for his business.

“It is hard to be open all the time, but you have to show people you are serious, that you have made a commitment. I love it if there is a bit of snow in the winter and I can take visitors into the mountains myself. This is a business that has to be a passion.”

News by Tamara Griffiths

Photo: Amedeo Tuccini