Many years ago, so the story goes, the Emir of Bukhara tried a bread from the Samarkand region of Uzbekistan. It tasted great - even better than any other bread he had tasted before. The Emir was obsessed with the bread and ordered his master bakers to bake it.
But despite all their efforts, the Emir's bakers failed. No matter what they tried. They couldn't make their bread as soft, flavorful and delicious as that from Samarkand. In desperation, they even imported flour and water from Samarkand. But with each new bread tasting, the Emir just shrugged his shoulders. There was still that certain something missing.
Eventually, the master bakers of Bukhara came to the conclusion that the secret of the bread was the air from Samarkand itself - pure, unpolluted and fresh. Since the air could not be imported, they told the Emir the sad news that only bakers from Samarkand could produce the bread of his dreams.
Dried cherries of the best quality
We can't promise that the story is 100% true, but we can vouch for the incredible fertility of Samarkand. A large part of our range is grown in the mountainous region of Samarkand - including our very special sour cherries. There is hardly a more beautiful sight than the wild cherry trees rustling in the wind amid the rolling mountains and deep valleys that give the region its unique aesthetic.
Farmers harvest and pit the cherries using traditional methods. They are then gently dried in the sun. No oil, sulfur or other additives are used in order to preserve the natural taste of the cherries. The result? In our opinion the best dried sour cherries in the world.
Our work also pays off for the farmers
We have close ties to the region's communities and have actively contributed to changing the lives of many people through investments and collaboration with agricultural cooperatives. In the early 90s we started working with the agricultural cooperatives in the region. Today we source our products from the first two Fairtrade cooperatives in Central Asia, with 350 farming families (2000 people in total).
We have also invested in agricultural training to provide local people with consistent yields and higher profit margins. We are proud of the continuous improvements, as constant investments, training and better equipment have made the prospects of Samarkand's agricultural population almost as sunny as the region itself.
Finally, to contribute to the region's natural beauty and fertile soil, we have planted over 300,000 trees on the slopes of the Samarkand mountains. This contributes to biodiversity and means that we save more CO2 than we emit through the production and distribution of our products.
There is only one wish that we cannot fulfill - that the Emir can enjoy our sour cherries. That would have put a smile on his face! But maybe we could at least enchant you.
Here you can conveniently order our dried cherries to your home.
