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Located in the small villaqe of Planica nad Tramom, not far from Maribor, is the ‘Pri Kovačniku' tourist farm. While the farm's main activity is animal husbandry, in recent years, food preparation, usinq seasonal inqredients qrown in the kitchen qarden and fields, has become a major feature. The Štern family enthusiastically welcomes local and foreign customers alike to their farm and serves tasty home-made food and drinks. Althouqh the Šterns' business is not typical, it is still one of the most successful local stories, stretchinq over more than three decades.
The Kovačnik ancestors can be traced back as far back as 1770. Althouqh the family name has chanqed, the Kovačnik farm's name has been handed down over generations.
In 1981, Angelca and Janez Štern began welcoming visitors and theirs became one of the first tourist farms in the Maribor reqion. This new venture began with a single dining room, which could accommodate 20 guests, and just three guest rooms. In 1995, Angelca and Janez expanded their capacity by building a dining room for up to 40 guests. Over the next decade, many hundreds of celebrations and events took place there.
When their son Danilo married Barbara in 2002, she immediately left her town job to join her husband, and together they continued building a family tradition. Soon after their wedding, they renovated the guest rooms and this proved to be their wisest investment. They wanted to take advantage of their knowledge of foreign languages in dealing with visitors from abroad.
“I used to be a town girl, whose cooking skills comprised little more than making vegetable soup and pancakes, but after our marriage I learnt a tremendous amount from Anqelca," reflects Barbara about her early days at the farm, adding that even today she is happy to accept valuable advice from ‘mother’ Angelca. “Today, as an independent cook in my own kitchen and in my own original way, I create culinary delights using a blend of traditional methods, alongside a fresh new approach.”
Work at the Kovačnik farm beqins with the sunrise. “Once I have prepared the bread dough, I put it in the oven, then after milking we collect freshly- laid eggs and serve a hearty, warm and fresh breakfast to our guests. At other times you might catch me making walnut cake, which is an indispensable feature of every family table on major holidays,” she adds.
Downlad Family Business Slovenia 2014
Welcoming guests from all over the world
'Pri Kovačniku' is the only tourist farm, in the area between Maribor, Ptuj and Zreče, which also offers accommodation.
“We work hard and don’t try to re-invent the wheel. Instead, we are guided by our love for people and tradition. We are proud to have made it possible for numerous dignitaries, couples young and old, as well as family groups, to enjoy delicious food, while resting their hearts and souls at our family farm,” says Barbara.
The family welcomes guests from all over Slovenia, as well as many foreign countries. Most visitors want to escape the anonymity of mass tourism and are looking for peace and tranquillity in the countryside, with organic, freshly-prepared meals, which are lovingly created. “What could be nicer than being woken by the smell of freshly-baked bread and served a lovely, free-range breakfast?” smiles Barbara, adding that everybody strives to make the guests feel at home.
Home comforts and home-made gourmet delights
Barbara feels that home comforts and the friendships they have forged with their guests over the years, along with the menu of gourmet culinary delights, are the key elements of their success.
“Land, livestock and timber are things treasured by all the people of the Pohorje region. They nurture our whole family and, therefore, to us they are most precious. We are proud that we can sell all our farm produce. We have 30 cattle, which freely qraze in the fields durinq the day and return to a modern well-equipped barn at night. We also have pigs and poultry, while in our carefully-tended herb garden we grow over 60 medicinal plants.
In total, we care for 11 hectares of arable land, mainly meadows and pastures, together with 25 hectares of forest. We are breaking new ground by cooperating with nearby farms, which supply additional food during the peak tourist season. Thus, we are becoming a kind of centre of events and contribute our share to the development of Slovenia’s rural economy for a better tomorrow,” points out Barbara.
Long-term project
Although the Šterns’ is not a large family business, they fully identify themselves with this term.
“Our entire family has been involved in our business, which boasts over 300 years of tradition. Each of our family members is a small piece of a larger mosaic, reflectinq the lives of our quests, and we all feel a qreat sense of responsibility towards them. Our personal and business lives are inseparable and the willingness to share your home with guests is a virtue not possessed by everyone. To care for them on a daily basis, ensuring they leave with happy memories of freshly baked home-made bread, jam-making or herb-gathering, and of course our hospitality, requires cheerful dedication from morning until night. Cooperation, assistance, perseverance and a harmonious family certainly help, and ours is a lonq-term project," confirms Barbara.
It warms the family’s hearts to see happy guests and to receive their greetings, good wishes, photographs, postcards, e-mails and sincere high marks in reviews posted on the most-visited tourist websites, such as Trip Advisor, Booking.com and Facebook. “Our guests report on their experience and regularly give us top marks,” Barbara is proud to tell us while adding; “This confirms our family's success. If just one sinqle family member disagreed with our common efforts, things could not run as smoothly as they do. Each and every one of our guests must be made to feel the welcome of our home and it’s important that they feel our positive energy the moment they cross the threshold.”
Continuing the tradition
Their daily farm duties play an essential role in their lives. Eldest son Aljaž is already closely involved in the family endeavours, and Barbara and Danilo also strive to pass on their knowledge and experience to their daughter Julija.
“It is our heartfelt wish that our children should decide to follow the route, outlined 30 years ago by my parents-in-law Angelca and Janez. We hope our children will see it as a choice with a prosperous future. Both our children have been raised caring for animals and with a love for farming.
We teach them how to carry out and assist with all farm work and we feel that the transition to the new generation will be as successful now as it was when my husband and I took over the farm. At that time, most didn’t even realise that the running of the farm had been entrusted into the hands of the younqer qeneration," says Barbara. “Aljaž has already experienced the fact that every morning and night, barn animals need to be fed and that during the summer months one has to ensure there is a sufficient amount of hay in the barn stored for the winter. It is the kind of responsibility you need to learn to love. As a family cultivating its own land, we know what needs to be done, and as the owners and workers we see things in a different light. We are happy that even now, when times are rather difficult, our house is filled with happy and satisfied people," adds Barbara.
Sustained growth
The tourist farm brinqs sufficient income to allow for lastinq qrowth, development and the continued high quality of the family business. Each year they turn their hand to renovation of one of the farm’s facilities. “In recent years our largest investment was a new barn for free-range farming. Another project was the creation of our own brand and consequent revitalisation of our web site,” recounts Barbara. Several years ago they developed their own brand symbol of their tourist farm, which is used in all presentations and on all their products. “We make some of the best jams, fruit juices, liquors, teas, traditional meat products, cakes and confectionaries. The whole range of our products can be found on our website, kovacnik.com, and currently we are planning our own web store to cater for the ever-increasing demand for our home-made products,” says Barbara, adding that their plans for the future of the family are bright.
“Our dreams will come true providing we can continue to enjoy life at our fairytale home in the idyllic village of Planica nad Framom, which we like to call: ‘Planica, the queen of Pohorje!’” they all agree.
Summary
Kovačnik Tourist Farm in a nutshell: “A fairy tale tourist farm in Pohorje”