In a household in Tăuții Măgherăuși, Maramureș county, there is a store in which there is no cashier, working hours or supervision. Customers come in, choose the fruits and products they want, and leave the price in a box when they leave. The system, based solely on trust, is one of the initiatives through which a family of fruit growers tries to capitalize on their harvest.
Raluca Cioci manages, together with her family, an orchard of approximately six hectares, inherited from her grandparents and cultivated without herbicides and chemical treatments.
The most appreciated initiative of the family, however, is the self-service store set up at home, where buyers have access at any time of the day.
“We opened a space where anyone can enter. It’s self-service. People see what fruit I have, choose what they want and put the money in the box”says Raluca Cioci, according to G4food.
“I want to thank those who had the courage and entered, I am very happy when I see that this system is working”, say this on FB.
The model allows them to continue their activity in the orchard without someone having to stay permanently in the shop.
“I get home from picking, check what’s sold, top up with fresh fruit and see what’s missing,” says the producer.
In addition to the apple orchard, the family grows blueberries, chokeberries, Siberian blueberries, gooseberries and Canadian walnuts, with some plantations gradually coming into fruit. Birds are also raised in the household, and the resulting natural fertilizer is used to fertilize the crops.
A business supported almost exclusively by the family
All activity is carried out almost exclusively by family members. Her mother helps her pick, and during the holidays her 11-year-old daughter joins them.
During this period, blueberries are sold for 25 lei per kilogram, a price also set according to this year’s limited production.
The family’s products also reach the fair “City Fruits”, organized every Friday in the parking lot of a shopping center in Baia Mare. However, most are sold by order, placed during the week via the fair’s Facebook page.
