Welcome to the island of flavors of La Palma

Ostrovchutí s.r.o. is a unique project focused on the cultivation, processing and distribution of exotic fruit, mainly from the Canary Islands. Our organic farm is located on the picturesque island of La Palma in the Montes de Luna area, where we strive to create harmony between nature and modern agriculture. Our goal is to offer our customers the highest quality fruit that is grown with love and respect for the environment

In the Picture you will find photos of the island of La Palma and from our plantation: Upper left corner and further: Salt from the Fuencaliente salt flats, tamarillo, dragon fruit buds, papaya, open dragon fruit flower, the capital of Santa Cruz de La Palma, our children Anna and Emma , coffee fruits, our dragon fruit farm in 2022, the pine forest above Montes de Luna, our ripening fruit plantation, the highest point of the island of Los Muchachos, the trail between the volcanoes Ruta de Los Volcanos

Who is behind the project and how did it all start?

We are a family organic farm that, together with other enthusiastic growers and lovers of exotic fruits, brings a piece of tropical paradise directly to your home. Our farm is located in the southeast of the island, in an area that offers perfect conditions for growing almost all types of tropical fruit. The unique combination of soil composition (volcanic permeable soil rich in minerals with a high content of plant material), oceanic climate and relatively frequent rainfall gives our fruit enough energy for quality growth and collection of vitamins and, above all, excellent taste!

The story of Ostrovachutí begins in 2018, when we first visited "La Isla Bonita" (The Beautiful Island) of La Palma, which enchanted us with its natural beauty, diverse landscape and smiling people. We were immediately captivated by its green mountains, volcanic beaches and peaceful atmosphere. La Palma inspired us with its purity and authenticity. It was a place where we felt connected to nature and where we could start a new chapter of our lives.

At first we just enjoyed the gifts of the island. We covered a large part of the island on foot, enjoying the views and tasting the local specialties. We slowly spent more and more time here. Returning back to the Czech Republic became more and more difficult for us, and we wanted to start our own project here and give back to the island and the people, at least a little of what it offered us.

The main turning point came with the Covid pandemic, when we were "trapped" here. Needless to say, we decided on our own that we wanted to stay here and didn't use the flights back to Europe because we felt safer here. House arrest, as the harsh measures might be called, led us to thoughts of our own plantation. Just the thought of picking your own mango off the tree is electrifying!

Since my husband and I are both under the sign of Virgo, if we get passionate about something, we will do everything to achieve the goal! So we started looking around and very quickly acquired the first plots of land. Unkept and very wild terraces, where potatoes and vegetables were mainly grown in the past. A few weeks of hard work and the terrain was unrecognizable. We manually repaired the load-bearing walls of the terraces, eliminated the air raids present everywhere and planted the first rows of dragon fruit (pitay).

It is this crop - dragon fruit - that has become our main plant, which currently makes up the largest area of ​​the plot. The plant itself is very interesting. It is a climbing cactus that blooms only at night and needs to be pollinated by hand. You can find more about this plant in the article: Exotics on a plate!

In addition to this healthy plant, we also have a number of well-known and very original crops. Here you will come across mango, avocado, passion fruit, carambola, papaya, acerola, pitanga and other diverse plants. Some exotic crops are delicious, others will surprise you with their acidity or strong (even unpleasant) aroma.

My husband and I never studied agriculture and we worked in very different fields. I am a graduate of SPŠG Hellichova in Prague majoring in book restoration, and my husband has a staffing agency. We knew the basics about growing fruits and vegetables, so we started by trial and error. Fortunately, there are very few mistakes anymore! Thanks to a lot of help from local farmers who gave us tailor-made gifts. The local method of cultivation is very different from the world-recognized methods and it is therefore not possible to use and follow studies made outside the islands. Therefore, we are very grateful that the locals took us under their protective wings and became our teachers. With their help and constant study, we are now very well versed in all areas of agriculture and try to pass on our knowledge. The world is full of misinformation and I take it as my duty not to be silent and to show how things are.

The deeper you get into the topic of exotic fruits, the more you realize the great injustice against the farmers. Chain stores and retailers are pushing prices down and no one is asking how they do it. "The customer wants bigger fruit, so top it up properly. We want uniform size, so clone it or throw it away. We want a huge production, make it happen. If that doesn't happen, we'll force you!" These are completely normal and alarming facts that you don't see in the press. That's why I'm going to draw more attention to them and together we'll move to a new wave: QUALITY NOT QUANTITY!

What are our goals and main motivations?
It all started quite innocently and small. The fruit we grew was for our own consumption and for visitors. Word got around, however, and demand from Czech customers outside the islands gradually began to grow. We very much welcomed the interest in Canary fruit, because with the growing production, the problem with sales began to appear. We and other farmers face the same problems as growers in the rest of Europe. The market is dominated by cheap imported fruit and there is not enough interest in the place where we grow it. Therefore, a wonderful new path has opened up for us. Import fruit where there is a shortage and support the island's economy in the right direction! It is only thanks to you, our customers, that we have come this far. At the moment, up to 90% of pitahaya (dragon fruit) production goes to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Your interest is the driving force for us in the search for new types of fruit and their cultivation. We are involving more and more organic farms and we are looking for already existing projects outside the islands as well. For example, Výdejna Chutí joined us, which has the same philosophy and supplies us with fruit from farmers in Greece.

We are gradually trying to move Ostrovchutí to a higher level and maintain our policy. Farmer first! It's a struggle at times because the price of fresh, naturally ripened is really high due to air travel. We are aware of this and are trying to work with her. But not at the expense of farmers, so please see the prices as what you should see on all store shelves. Not the other way around.

Our biggest task is to be able to reduce fruit waste to an absolute minimum. Therefore, we use lower quality fruit for processing into homemade syrups, homemade jams, and a lot of fruit is dried. Fruit dried at low temperatures still retains its benefits and vitamins. Since my husband and I no longer have the capacity for our own production, we involve small producers both in La Palma and in the Czech Republic. Thanks to this, we were able to create a whole range of products that recycled fruit and prevented it from being thrown away.

Some types of fruit are still waiting for their new purpose, which is why we decided to support the ZOO in Hrádečka, which is close to our store and the main headquarters in Jindřichov Hradec. Now even parrots and lizards can indulge in our exotic fruit, for which it is a very important part of their diet, and the ZOO would have trouble buying it in BIO quality on its own.