Butchery Christanell

When great-great grandfather Mathias Christanell founded his butcher’s business in 1903, he laid the ground stone for a Christanell principle that still distinguishes the company to this day: The whole family are involved, and all the most important tasks are dealt with by family members in person.

Present-day owner Josef Christanell took over the company from his father and, together with his brother, went on to become one of the first large-scale speck producers in South Tyrol. Today, the whole company is in the hands of Josef’s family, and four of his children work with him. One son works in the production department, the other two in purchasing and sales. His daughter works in the office, their mother takes care of the customers at the shop in Naturns/Naturno, and master-butcher, Josef manages production. Direct contact with customers is central to the family’s sales philosophy, and another member of the family delivers all of their outstanding fresh meat, top-quality cooked products, home-hade specialities such as ham, “kaminwurzen” smoked, dried sausages, all types of sausages imaginable and, of course, Speck Alto Adige. Their customer base comprises gastronomy businesses, delicatessens, wholesalers and distributors.

Speck Alto Adige is dear to the hearts of the family, and they are currently planning to expand their production. There’s certainly no lack of demand, and they have already built a new production facility in Plaus, near Naturns. The family’s ultimate goal is to produce Speck Alto Adige PGI with protected geographical indication, which must be cured for longer than conventional speck. This will give their customers the option to choose from a softer speck with shorter curing times and the cured, firmer speck so beloved by locals and speck connoisseurs.