Giovanni Trapani was born in 1988, but, at only 32 years of age, the life he is living as a farmer in Alta Langa is already his fourth life. From all the previous ones he has learnt and treasured something, a legacy that is now nourishing the Cascina Zan Superfood project. First, he was a student at the University of Turin, where he graduated in Economics and Tourism Management (Bachelor’s Degree) and subsequently in Economics (Master’s Degree). Then, he travelled the world: “I left two days after graduation for a year and a half. I travelled the five continents. In Australia I had two formative experiences: first in a huge farm and then in a restaurant in Brisbane that offered healthy cuisine with products having a high nutritional value. Everywhere I went, I saw new products and different working methods” he says.
Once he was back in Italy, he resumed his work in the kitchen, starting at 21 as a kitchen porter and ending at 27 as Executive Chef, taking care of three restaurants in San Sicario (a ski resort in the so-called Milky Way, in Alta Val Susa) totalling about 1,200 meals served per day. “It wasn’t a sustainable lifestyle, nor was it compatible with what I wanted. I gave up and enrolled in a Master’s programme in Sustainability of Agri-Food Networks, which “cuts across” and involves the schools of Agriculture, Economics and Sociology” he says.

His degree in Economics taught Giovanni the need to process the products (from Paroldo it is difficult to reach a market – the nearest one is in Turin, which is a hundred kilometres away) and the need to propose innovative products by investing in quality. His produce comes from organic farming, but, thanks to his trip around the world, plants that were totally unknown in this area have reached, or will reach, the Alta Langa. This means Giovanni will soon be able to offer “the yellow super-fruit jam, a blend of P. Alkekengi and mountain banana i.e. a fruit from North America and a rustic plant that grows on calcareous soil, easy to grow and resistant to the cold. Both bear fruit in late summer: the banana is sugary and tastes like vanilla, while P. Alkekengi is bitter and rich in pectin. The black super-fruits, instead, are mulberry, Siberian blueberry and blackcurrant, the latter adding a pleasantly sour touch”.

A vacuum concentrator, allowing for fast cooking at 50 degrees – thereby preserving the organoleptic properties of the super-fruits – will be installed in the processing lab.