TERRIUS – Sustainable gourmet food made in Portugal
LPM: Rita, tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from and what do you do.
Not only because people from the north are completely different from the south, and besides home habits and traditions, still I also had many influences from the north region, since I was very young.
I always had followed my dreams with a lot of energy, doing the things that I liked and fight for the things I believe in and that made sense for my life.
I did swimming competition for 14 years, which also helped me to never stop fighting for my goals.
Professionally, I have studied animal production and then went to work in the Alentejo, in a pasture seed company that used an innovative concept, which legume and grass seeds were mixtures to benefit from natural interactions between the plants, and avoid fertilizers.
The company had many concerns with the environment, already at that time, and also was an example of the complete production cycle: from seed to sheep cheese.
Then, I decided to start studying food safety and did a master’s degree in this area of training. I also realized that a job I liked a lot was public relations associated with gastronomy and for that, I worked in a restaurant. Meanwhile, I was responsible for the quality department of a traditional sausage industry. And finally, I reached a point where I decided to create my project and started Terrius in 2012!
LPM: Terrius is your brainchild. What inspired you to create this concept?
I felt in love with Marvão the first time I visited this place and its surroundings. This place is amazing, and there wasn’t any new gastronomic concept in the region at that time, and I thought it could be possible to mixture Agriculture & Food Tourism.
The other inspiration is my father, he is an agronomist and always liked to talk to us about agriculture and the landscape that we saw out of the car window, while we travelled from Vila Real to Lisbon and Évora. He was explaining the cultures, the time of the year for each culture, the difference of the colours along the year, and many other things about agriculture, gastronomy and food traditions.
Then I tried to put all together and create Terrius, my brainchild!
LPM: Social responsibility and promotion of circular economy are part of the ethos of the TerriuS brand. How do you implement these concepts?
On the other hand, we save products from being wasted and adapt the old recipes to match the innovation and market of the moment. All products are natural without preservatives or additives:
- Dried products: wild mushroom varieties, shitake mushroom, tomato, smoked chestnut, and acorn;
- Preserves: natural preserved red peppers, dried tomato chutney with ginger, olive oil and oregano, shitake mushroom with cilantro and olive oil chutney, mustard & red pepper natural sauce with honey,
- Natural gluten-free flours: smoked chestnut, acorn, apple, tomato and mushrooms.
As an example: small chestnuts that usually consumers don’t want, small apples, or with different skin colour, the peppers that couldn’t be roasted because weren’t so perfect, and also acorn that in an underexploited resource. With all of these amazing ingredients, we prepare the best products for our clients!
About Social responsibility, we have been working with local farmers and small factories since the beginning, always to stimulate their businesses, and now we work already with about twenty.
We also promote the protection of the landscape and agriculture, natural resources and traditions, and we support some local social causes.
As a result of our concept and activity, we received a prize of Social Entrepreneur.
LPM: Are your products vegan?
Our dried products, preserves and sauces are amazing to prepare vegan recipes with new flavours and healthy ingredients.
LPM: What about processing?
Thus, we only use natural processing methods: drying, drying and milling, preserving in olive oil, and boiling in a low temperature for a long time.
Besides that, all the processes are handmade, the products are prepared with care, by locals, with small factories, to guarantee that the final product will be really special, prepared in small quantities, from the best hands in the region, and especially with love and tradition.
The drying process in the case of the chestnuts, is the same as 100 years ago, once we do the drying process in a fireplace, so the chestnuts can be smoked, and this was the way ancient people used to do.
Some drying is not done under the sun but is simply done in drying chambers, where only warm air is forced to run, but the temperature is always bellow 45ºC, to preserve natural product characteristics.
LPM: BESIDES FOOD, YOU ALSO OFFER SERVICES THAT COMBINE TERRIUS’ PRODUCTS WITH MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THESE GASTRONOMIC EXPERIENCES?
All of this surrounded by amazing Portuguese wines, as well as many other surprises related to our culture and traditions.
LPM: WHERE CAN WE FIND TERRIUS PRODUCTS IN PORTUGAL AND ABROAD?
Our products are mainly used in restaurants, hotels and wine bars. They can be tasted in really original recipes with unique flavours and identity, in both versions: traditional and modern, prepared by the best Chefs we have in Portugal!
There are also some stores, in different parts of the country, such as Évora, in Portalegre, Algarve, Lisbon, Porto among others, that sell our products directly to the final consumer.
It is also possible to buy through our website.
Abroad we have our products in Poland, Germany, France and Spain, both in stores and in restaurants.
LPM: NOW, TELL US ABOUT MARVÃO AND THE S. MAMEDE HILLS, WHERE TERRIUS WAS BORN. WHAT INTERESTING THINGS CAN PEOPLE SEE AND DO BESIDES VISITING YOUR HEADQUARTERS, OF COURSE! 😉
Marvão is a unique wonderful little village, all inside walls, from IX century with a breathtaking view from almost 1000m high.
Besides visiting Terrius headquarters – an old water mill – you can bathe in the river Sever or do any of Terrius Experiences.
There are also many Gastronomic Festivals throughout the year and in the Summer you can go to Marvão Music Festival, where you will listen to classic music in the most amazing places of the region, namely a Roman Town – Ammaia.
LPM: HOW DO YOU ENVISION TERRIUS IN THE FUTURE
Also build new programs, like being part of 100% Vegan Tours, see the removal of cork and traditional products workshops.
We plan to increase international markets not only in terms of the products but also in Terrius Experiences.
We will continue to innovate, to develop new products, and I really want to take Terrius Experiences to other countries, always based on Circular Economic principles.
LPM: AS YOU KNOW, THIS BLOG IS ABOUT FINDING BLISS BY EMBRACING ALL ASPECTS OF OUR LIVES. HAVE YOU FOUND YOUR PROFESSIONAL BLISS WITH TERRIUS?
I do what I love. Terrius is a project that I built, and even in difficult moments, it is undoubtedly huge happiness!
