Ulisse & Sandra
Podere il Casale, Tuscany
Sandra and Ulisse started their 150 acre farm in 1991 more as a lifestyle experiment than a business project, with the idea to have a full control on the food that they needed daily.
They had no experience in farming and in Zurich/Switzerland where they come from, they were involved in the music business with a past in a punk band (Ulisse).
The existing owners of the farm were able to help set up their self sufficient farm concept and from the beginning they were focused on the full spectrum of farming to include grain, a vegetable garden, an olive orchard, vineyard and on the lifestock part, milk sheep, milk goats, pigs, chicken and beehives.
Ulisse and Sandra faced many challenges however they started to produce cheese, pasta, bread, wine, olive oil and vegetables preserves. At the end of the nineties people started to come in the Orcia valley and they started to host them for meals, a concept termed “farm to table” by their mostly north American guests.
The hospitality concept allowed 2 of their 5 sons to return and work in the business and that this could be developed further. Today they have more than 30 employees and this farm they created from scratch offers a future to their next generation.