Lord of the fruits and berries

Summer is harvest time, and that means work, because then the fruit has to be prepared for storage: the skin is cleaned, spots with stains are cut off, and the stone fruit is pitted. “Everything is done by hand“, says Peter Seibstock. Loud pop music is playing in the manufactory’s kitchen. The hissing of the three refrigerators can be heard. This is where the fruit is stored and, when an order comes in, then it's time to go. “After ten days, the customer has their goods, freshly boiled down.” This is done very traditionally with sugar. Peter Seibstock only uses apple pectin as a gelling agent. He and his employees fill small and medium-sized jars by hand. Each filled glass is weighed. “So that it’s right!”, says Peter Seibstock. Then it is pasteurised and cooled. This ensures that no bacteria or fungi remain in the jar. “We'll do that in a cycle starting from next year. In the process, the same water is reused instead of using new water all the time.” When the jars are ready, they go down a floor. Here they are prepared for dispatch. “We are a manufactory, because we really do everything by hand – even the labels!” And in winter? “From October onwards, the village is deserted. That's when it's as beautiful as it is scary to work here.”