ALPE PRAGAS - MON-FRI: 8:00 - 12:00 & 13:00 - 18:00 | SAT: 09.00 - 12:30 & 13:30 - 18:00 | SUN: CLOSED
The Boy from Braies Who Reached the World
Back when Lake Braies was not yet a world- famous destination – even though its unspoilt beauty was just the same – Stefan Gruber was born in the early 1970s: Founder and innovative soul behind Alpe Pragas. He would go on to become the founder and innovative driving force behind Alpe Pragas. He grew up on a family farm in the Braies Valley, the youngest of five children, with four older sisters, his parents and five cows. Life on the farm was part of everyday reality from a young age: “At six years old they told me: you’re taking the cows out to pasture. That was normal. The adults were busy, and we kids taught each other.” His childhood followed the rhythm of nature – a free, open life filled with snow, woods, and outdoor adventures.
When Stefan was just nine, his father passed away, leaving his mother to raise the five children on her own. “She was born in 1926 and grew up with a cautious and resourceful mindset. You learned respect for people and things simply by observing.” The farm is over 200 years old – it carries the history of the family, like the original wooden living room – the stube – which was carefully dismantled and faithfully rebuilt in their renovated home. It now sits at the heart of the company – a small gem in the Puster Valley. The surrounding woods became a place of imagination and creativity – in winter, skiing down from nearby slopes, and in summer, foraging for wild berries.
At 16, Stefan began questioning his future. The thought of living the same life for the next 40 years drove him to seek something else. He dreamed of Munich – or maybe even the United States. When he was 18, his mother fell ill, and he stayed on the farm, starting to grow and sell fruit. The idea of making fruit preserves came in 1997. But in the beginning, everything had to be learned: from pasteurisation to preservation, every step was a new challenge. Building a brand from scratch was no easy task. The first labels were handmade, and the production was entirely artisanal: “I’d make 15 kilos of fruit preserve at a time. If the batch failed, I had to throw it all away – but at least it was only a small loss.” His determination never wavered. In 2000, he began attending trade fairs. The customer base grew, and so did the need for more space. In 2010, Stefan expanded the workshop near the farm in Braies. Their e-commerce shop launched in 2012 – still early days for online retail – and today, orders come in from wide parts of the world.
Travel remains a major source of inspiration. Each year he sets off with a friend to discover new places – from Norway, where he often returns, to Russia near the Mongolian border. He explores cultures, studies plants and fruits in different climates, and experiments with flavour combinations. A development project in Cape Verde led him to teach locals how to make fruit preserves using native fruit like quince, pomegranate and mango. “Sustainability is simple when you have nothing: we collected rainwater, cooled jars on rooftops – water is precious and rare in that region.” Today, Alpe Pragas’ Limited Editions include unusual combinations like lingonberry with gin and lime, or pear with Tahitian vanilla. But Stefan’s favourite flavour has never changed: “Bilberries. It’s the first taste I remember from childhood – out in the woods.”
