Fior di Maiella

Fior Di Maiella is one of the producers of the Altino sweet pepper (Slow Food association) using organic cultivation methods.

We also offer customers conventionally grown varieties. This differentiation enables us to serve customers who require organic products as well as those who require a product of impeccable quality in terms of flavour and consumer safety. Careful handling from sowing to sale guarantees a quality indigenous product from the farm to the processing stage.

Variety

The Altino sweet pepper is an ecotype also known as ‘paesanello di Altino’ or ‘a cocce capammonde’ (with the fruit facing upwards). It is purple-red in colour with a maximum length of 18 cm, an average diameter of 4 cm, a square base and an irregular shape.

The land

It is grown in fields between the Sangro and Aventino rivers, in alluvial, loam-rich soils or in medium-density hilly soils. The climate is Mediterranean, with concentrated rainfall in winter and high temperatures in July and August that allow the fruit to ripen and redden.

Cultivation

The Altino sweet pepper community farms a total of about 11 hectares. The seed is kept by the association’s custodian farmers and sown between February and March by scattering in seed beds or in cellular containers. In May, the seedlings are transplanted into open fields in rows, spaced at approximately 40 cm with approximately one metre between rows. They are drip-irrigated to avoid wastage. They are organically fertilised and weeds are controlled by mulching and weeding. Crop rotation is every three years to alternate the peppers with pulses and other horticultural crops, with fallow years in between.

Harvest and processing

The peppers are picked by hand from the end of August to November and are marketed fresh, dried (whole, sliced, finely or coarsely ground) or processed into a cream and preserved in extra virgin olive oil. The peppers are air-dried or dried in the dryer facility.

The label is a Slow Food initiative and provides information on the product, the producer and the entire supply chain.