The agricultural history of the Borio family began around the 1950s when Grandfather Sergio, in his twenties at the time, began cultivating gardens for a business purpose, no longer just for "survival" as his parents where already used to do during the war. In that moment he was effectively building the first family farm. Here, with his wife Pina, the cultivation of vegetables develops, alongside the breeding of beef cattle.
With the entry into the company of his son Enzo, the breeding is abandoned, and the business of the family was more concentrated on fruit cultivation. Mainly apples, pears and kiwis. Around the 1980s, Enzo and his wife Daniela began selling their products directly on local markets and then gradually moved their attention to wholesale of fruit and vegetable markets as the production increased.
With the last generation, his nephew Emanuele wanted to respond to a general and diffused market request, so in 2010 he created a company space entirely dedicated to the direct selling of his own products, completing the offer with agricultural products from the territory. A few years later he expanded the business, and the laboratory comes to life. The idea was to realize a dedicated place in which products were created directly with their own fruit.
In 2016 the Azienda Agricola L'Orto Smeraldo was officially born, creating a recognizable identity among local farms panorama. Later, the company spaces are further developed, creating a new building with a shop and tasting room.
Today the team has expanded with the inclusion in the company of Alice and Beatrice (sister and wife of Emanuele), essential for the development of laboratory work and the touristic hospitality.
We grow different varieties of apples and pears, including the Madernassa pear (typical variety of Roero area), kiwis, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries and strawberries. In recent years we have added the cultivation of hazelnuts and lately that of walnuts.
The cultivation of vegetables is purely seasonal. From spring / summer with zucchini, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes etc ... to autumn / winter with fennel, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, black cabbage etc ... Potatoes and onions never miss to complete the range.
In our laboratory we produce delicious fruit jams, tomato sauce, the local “giardiniera” starter, vegetable cube, prepared vegetables for minestrone, steamed vegetables, cakes and other preparations. Finally, we also produce fresh fruit and vegetable extracts, rigorously cold-pressed, in order to maintain all the main characteristics.
