The Park Bread is born from the Maiella National Park: the strong bond with the territory that aims to launch the local economy
A bread that smells of the mountains. Not in the literal sense, of course, but in the sense that it exudes the values of that extraordinary place that is Maiella National Parkone of the richest mountain ecosystems in Italy. Its 74,000 hectares, between Abruzzo and the central Apennines, preserve an exceptional biodiversity, but also a profound food and wine tradition, built over the centuries on products that reflect the mountain: ancient legumes, honey from sustainable beekeeping, extra virgin olive oil from local cultivars, wine from native vines, cheeses from supply chains that respect the territory. A heritage of flavors that the Park protects through certifications and dedicated projects, aware that food is also a tool for landscape conservation.
Where Pane del Parco is born
It is in this context that Pane del Parco was born, a project created by Bread Marketamong the founders of the Breaders Group (a certified B Corp benefit company), in collaboration with the Maiella National Park. The bread is produced with rye and spelled grown in the fields of Abbateggio, a municipality located right inside the Park.
One of the virtuous peculiarities of the project is the fact that the entire supply chain is managed entirely autonomously: from cultivation to milling of grains, used both for sourdough and for bread making. Furthermore, the agricultural practices adopted exclude plowing, weeding and chemical substances, favoring the natural balance of the soil and the recovery of local agronomic varieties. Finally, on the rind, a very specific identifying sign: the wolf, the most emblematic figure of the territory.
The concept of terroir applied to bread
«Pane del Parco is close to the concept of terroir, a typical expression used in the world of wine», explains Luigi Morsella, co-founder of Mercato del Pane. «It tells about the place it comes from and its transformations over time, making the environmental and cultural specificities that generate it perceivable.» It is a very original idea and anything but obvious: applying the same logic with which a wine is linked to the territory to bread means recognizing that even an everyday food (too often relegated to a mere accompaniment to main dishes) can be the bearer of geographical and cultural identity, just as happens with the great wine denominations.
The Maiella as a living food and wine system
«Food is one of the greatest expressions of Italian culture and bread is a strong element of identity», rightly declared Luciano Di Martino, director of the Park. «Through this initiative we want to renew our commitment to supporting internal mountain areas as places of active agriculture». Pane del Parco is, in his words, «only the beginning of a broader journey, capable of telling and enhancing, through food, the authentic identity of the Maiella».
Luigi Morsella also highlighted that the desire to “make rural areas and urban centers communicate through new supply chains is an opportunity to develop a virtuous model between business and territory, capable of generating economic and cultural value”. The mountain, in short, not only as a natural reserve, but as an active productive and cultural place. A model that starts from flour and looks far ahead, where all the elements of the territory (including wolves) interact synergistically to create something good.
