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Seeds of Italy Franchi Seeds (1783)
You can read a 5 page article about Franchi Seeds in the May edition of TASTE ITALIA magazine. Franchi - A story that begins in 1783, the same year in which the Montgolfier brothers balloon flew over Paris for the first time and Mozart wrote his first mass. This very same year, Giovanni Franchi began selling his seeds through the market towns and piazzas of Piacenza from his horse drawn cart, and thus our story begins - a story of tradition, experience, quality, passion and excellence that continues today alongside state-of-the-art technological solutions. Filling seed packets, Franchi, Bergamo, 1920's
Vegetable growing continues to be a big tradition in Italy, where produce is seasonal and original, genuine, virginal regional varieties still survive. Stations, schools, hospitals, police stations, offices and factories even have an 'orto'. There's no separation between gardening and food - there's just food, a continuation of life from the seed to the plate, a respect and a love of it. An incredible 90% of our veg seed is still produced in Italy, many in their own regions, and Italy is in the top 8 of longest living people in the world, with San Marino in the top 3 (source United Nations WHO) and Italy ranks top of 'rich countries' in a UNICEF report of 15 year olds who eat at the table with their families. The varieties are not standardized - every region pretty much grows it's own courgette, it's own onion, it's own bean etc. They are authentic, unique, and they have provenance. Our 2008 recipe collection and seed catalogue (valid Jan-Jan, UK and EC only) features signed recipes this year from 13 of your favourite chefs and restaurants is available from January. But if you can't wait to get a sneak preview and you have broadband internet, then you can order an advance PDF copy NOW by emailing us or by downloading it by clicking here (4mb). In our 2008 catalogue our recipe collection and seed catalogue includes signed recipes from Fifteen (Cornwall), Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, Giuseppe Silvestri (head chef of Harrods), The River Café, Antony Worrall Thompson, Sophie Grigson, Valentina Harris, Alex Beard, Maurizio Morelli (Latium Restaurant), Gennaro Contaldo, Amy Hunt (Oak and Glass) and Mary Contini from Valvona and Crolla in Edinburgh.. We have a new (old!!) storing tomato variety called Scattolone, a range called 'Le Bizzarre' which includes Arabica coffee beans and Peppercorns for sowing, we have two Spanish onions from Valencia, a yellow carrot from Doubs and traditional Italian jam pumpkins. We always promise you generous seed quantities, and a level of quality that Franchi has built it's name on. This year our catalogue is a combination of our traditional regional gastronomic varieties, and our exciting speciality ‘Golden Line’ premium ranges. There are some innovative new additions like our unique Living Pet Foods seed range, a new section of French varieties to compliment our Italian cultivars and new plants for 2008 from Raggi Vivai in Cesena including Capers, Nebbiolo and Moscato wine grapes, and Jujube trees. We’re pleased to introduce our new ‘Emporio
Seeds of Italy’ boutique which consists of some
really excellent deli products along with gifts,
kitchen and preserving equipment, ‘Made in
Italy’ and rarely available in the UK.
And, last but not least, our centre pull-out
‘signed recipes’ section provides you with
sublime recipes to enjoy the fruits of your labour.
This section has become a bit of a cult and this
year as always, features contributions from some
of your favourite chefs and restaurants as well as Italy is only partly a Mediterranean country - 3/5ths of it is Alpine too, with the Alps and Dolomites in the North and the Apennines running down the spine. The beautiful city of Torino hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics of course and it reached -30c in Friuli last year!! As a result, some of our varieties are much hardier and love our mild British climate, and some will grow unprotected outside all winter. But just treat our tomatoes (or any of the varieties) the same way you'd treat a similar domestic variety and they will prosper. You can find our seeds in only the best deli's and garden centres in the UK and Ireland. Buon appetito and 'Grazie' for choosing Franchi seeds - 224 years experience at your service.
Seeds of Italy, the environment, and our staff. At Seeds of Italy, we are respecters of nature and food. We love growing veg, mushroom picking, preserving and other traditions. But we are starting to get worried about our environment - you don't need to be Leonardo da Vinci to see how we are all living is unsustainable, so we've made some decisions and some changes to how we work. Increasingly, more companies are producing their products, their packaging, their catalogues or other services in Asia or the Far East for economic reasons. Our seed packets are produced in Italy and all our printing is done locally, either in London or Italy. Our seed stands are made in Italy and England for Europe. We feel the cost to the environment on flying these items around is too high so we are now sourcing only EC made products where we can. Franchi themselves have sole responsibility for maintaining 70 important varieties and most of our veg seed is commissioned, not bought in. The farmer is given original Franchi stock seeds, is regularly visited and must meet strict standards. An incredible 90% of our vegetable seeds are still produced in Italy (many in their home regions still) and our seed is tested rigorously, which is why our catalogue comes out in January. Our new premises are lit with natural light and when it comes to sending mail order packets out, we re-use all Franchi packaging and boxes from home etc. So if your seeds arrive in an empty panettone box, that's how it is. We re-use all scrap paper, shred unwanted documents to use as packaging material, we limit visits to our outlets to save on petrol and pollution, and we send their goods by post. As a company, we close for two weeks in August. This means all our staff have a proper break and come back refreshed and energised. We lunch all together with a big bowl of pasta or Salad Nicoise and a glass of wine for instance, all prepared daily on the premises with fresh ingredients, some from the garden, so we all eat properly which is more important than ever these days. We close on Sundays, religious holidays and when Italy are playing football (Forza Azzurri !!). But most of all, our aim, our passion, is to encourage everyone to grow vegetables. You can't get more local than your back garden for at least some of your produce, they taste better, are good for you and the plants are good for the environment. We are members of the Slow Food Movement - the first ever seed company to be so we can further promote this aspect, and Franchi is the only seed brand in the UK approved by the Vegetarian Society. We're not perfect, but we're making a start. We want to improve our environment and if we can all make small changes, and grow more veggies, we can make a difference. Paolo and Alessandra Arrigo
Franchi Seeds "a byword for quality and authenticity" Saturday Telegraph (16/6/07) |
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