NEELE: Yes, more attentiveness and more togetherness. When the lockdown came, we decided on the spur of the moment to keep the market hall open. Behind us are a number of producers who were happy and relieved that we have taken their goods off their hands, because they were no longer able to sell them to restaurants. Many customers have really appreciated our efforts. And further creative ideas have emerged as a result of the even closer dialogue with our traders: we have made tomato sauce with the producers from the Vierlande region and a special Bolognese sauce with a producer located on the Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian border. And we have pickled plenty of produce: beetroot, red cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, to name but a few examples.
GIUSEPPE: It is actually the old methods such as fermenting, smoking and preserving that have been rediscovered. In times like these, maybe people return to their roots. It elicits the happy feelings they once had whenever they paid a visit to grandma and she cooked their favourite dish. Who still has a favourite dish these days? This has something to do with the idyllic world people perceived when they were children and particularly miss in such times as these. Food is a really big indicator of love, affection and appreciation.
HOLGER: This is also noticeable in the kitchen. The kitchen has always been a hive of activity. What is new, however, is the fact that it is no longer the domain of the housewife and mother. It is increasingly becoming a place that people wish to shape together. And the digital world has long since found its way in. Even if the kitchen has generally become more a piece of furniture – the technology is visible and wishes to remain so. Yet it is also getting better, more human and simpler to use, making it the perfect partner. It is the helper that makes many things easier and enables even more people to cook really well.
GIUSEPPE: The entire story of our evolution took place in the kitchen, around the fire. Culinary art in turn evolved from this. Cooks have played a key role in shaping our very existence. The result is a civilised world in which people no longer have to hunt or gather.
JOOST: We still do that: gather. Sourcing goods regionally, however, is hard work. We try to sell everything we have at the weekend. We don’t have our own warehouse where we can temporarily store our goods. Maybe that is the reason why we have no competitors. Who would subject themselves to such stress? It is 95 per cent hard graft and five per cent romance. In our experience, however, the people especially like it when you specialise in something. Specialising in something that is perfect, that is the future.