Lorenzo’s workshop – which he owns together with his partner of the same age, Edoardo Zanuttini – is situated in Verrés, in the lower portion of the valley a 25 kilometres drive from the Green Lake on winding regional road SR 45 and a three hundred metres height difference.

“It was a former pizza place, a largely neglected building” says Lorenzo. We are only a short walk from the high street in Verrés, in an inner courtyard. The workshop began its activity in February 2019, while the factory shop opened in December of the same year. “In June 2018, we were already producing from a temporary workshop” explains Edoardo. The space was in Aosta and was provided to Altura as part of one of the two incubator programmes run by Pépiniere d’Entreprises After taking part in a six-month training course and pre-incubation period, Altura was one of the three winners of the Espace Innovation 2017award.

“It was on these premises that we began experimenting with our first samples. In the meantime, we visited dozens of restaurants to find out whether they served, or would be interested in serving, smoked trout” says Edoardo.

The two partners also prepared a questionnaire for restaurant owners in Valle d’Aosta, which they sent by email to all chefs registered with the Unione regionale cuochi(Chefs Regional Association). “The questions were simple. We just wanted to learn how many of them already buy a similar product and how many would buy it if they found it on the local market” adds Lorenzo.

The questionnaire was welcomed positively and has provided the two partners with some useful insights, including for the purpose of pricing their products. Quaccia, – who is a sommelier and used to manage a restaurant in the Canavese area, the portion of Piedmont bordering with Valle d’Aosta – and Edoardo – who used to live in Paris – always had a clear idea in their minds that their main target would be the B2B market and, in particular, the segment of restaurant owners, which they favoured over a direct relation with customers.