Butchery Rinner

Gold-medal speck

“I only sell what I like myself,” says Alexander Rinner with a smile. In his company, the butcher from Latsch/ Laces places the utmost of importance on quality, and rapid, artificial curing has no place in his production of Speck Alto Adige PGI. Quite the reverse: He seasons his hams with a mild mixture of herbs and spices, and stores it in the brine room for 14 days. Afterwards, the speck is smoked on beech wood and then stored in the climate-controlled cellar for a minimum of 7 months.

In 1955 Alexander’s parents founded a small village butcher’s shop in Latsch, where they worked day and night with barely a break. Their son Alexander had to help out right from the beginning, and even at that time he knew what he wanted to do: To take a step away from classic butchering trade and build up a company which specialised in speck. It was then that he began to think about producing exclusively smoked and seasoned products. “I saw great opportunities for growth in this sector,” says Alexander, now 53 years old.

In 2008 the family built a further production facility, and Alexander’s son Max began to learn the butchering trade. Max, now 26 years old, joined the family company 3 years ago. “There’s a bit of friction now and again,” says Alexander, “But that‘s normal between two generations. We work well together, because we have the same philosophy.” The family company in Latsch offers an astounding array of products. Alongside chilli pepper, garlic and truffle salami, they also produce chamois, mouflon and venison salami. Their speck, on the other hand, is more traditional: First, the top-quality underside is salted and seasoned with garlic, pepper, salt and coriander and then it is smoked on beech wood, as tradition dictates. We use only our own organic blend,” explains Rinner. Their speck is sold throughout South Tyrol and North Tyrol.