On a long-distance bike tour like the one from Munich to Venice the challenge is not to know when you will arrive where. So upfront research on the net isn't an option unless you really have lots of time to spend on preparing the tour. So when we arrived in Bruneck at lunch time my backlist contained only one item, a small organic supermarket which not only was closed for the
traditional Italian lunch break, but had closed for good a few monthes ago, in June 2022.
Luckily we found a branch of the South-Tyrolean delicatessen
Pur Südtirol selling regional produce, a majority of certified organic quality. Everything is presented in style, there's an organic bakery till and one for cheese and (not organic) cold cuts. A few gravity bins allow customers to refill dry food (not organic as far as I could see); the fresh fruits and greens were all organic.
There's a nice self-serviced cafe corner offering a daily changing seasonal vegetarian main course. Since we wanted to have our bikes within eye-sight outdoor seating was the only option. Unfortunately all these tables were taken, so we decided to proceed our tour through the Puster valley and take with us rolls, which the friendly service staff filled with cheese and some greens while I was waiting.
Across the main street, Graben, a health-food shop, the
Reformhaus Egger can help to complete supplies.
More to try
Closed
2022-09-13 07:15:01
[The_Conscious_Traveller, Italy, Bruneck, Brunico, Pustertal, Puster_Valley, MuenchenVenezia, organic, biologico, supermarkets, grocery, cafe, eatery, lunch, deli, zero_waste]
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With the word Hof meaning "farm" in German it is a tough job to search the web for organic places in this nice medieval town in Franconia. To many the name of the city may be known as the first West-German train station on a train ride crossing the border between the two former German states, the GDR and the FRG, but in fact the city dates back to around 1230. Extra state fonds for being a frontier town are a thing of the past, but the town still has a philharmonic orchestra, a theatre and a noteworthy film festival. It's frequently reachable by regional trains (e.g. two hours from Nuremberg or 2.5 hours from Leipzig or Dresden) and has a beautiful station building. The city is also a nice stop when you take the Saale-Radweg bicycle route, if only to get a glimpse of an archetypal West-German city of the 1990ies.
Daily necessities
Located between the main train station and the centre of the old town you will find
Voll gut, a traditional owner-run organic supermarket. Pick a tomato or other small vegetable, choose some cheese and a roll, and the friendly shop keeper will prepare a sandwich for you, to take away or to eat at the sole coffee table with an organic coffee drink or tea. There's no dedicated zero waste corner with gravity bins, but you will find a decent selection of dry food in deposit glasses as well as dairy products, plant-based milk alternatives and beverages in returnable glasses and bottles. Some cottage cheeses and preserved meat spread come in glasses which you can return without a deposit.
Hof isn't far from Töpen, the homebase of one of Germany's major organic wholesale traders, Dennree, and hence the city's branch of the affiliated Biomarkt supermarkets, the
Biomarkt Speisekammer in the neighbourhood of Alsenberg (south of the main train station) may count as a local organic supplier. The shop emerged from a smaller traditional organic shop in Ludwigstraße.
Of course, there's also a traditional health-food shop in the pedestrian area of the inner city, the
Reformhaus "Gesund&fit". As in any other Reformhaus you'll find organic dry food and sweets, dairy products and vegetarian alternatives, bakery products, herbs and spices, tea and beverages, canned food and preserves, natural bodycare and sustainable cleaning agents, but only about half of it is organically certified, so check labels if unsure.
Sweets, chocolates, tea and more
If you like tea for real you should better pay a visit to one of the city's tea specialist shops.
Tea 4 You near Lorenzkirche offers a decent selection of organic green, black and herbal teas. Bring your own tea boxes or jars to avoid waste.
More organic tea as well as organic seeds can be found at the
Alraune tea shop in the Westend neighbourhood. The shop moved recently, so do not be surprised if you find it listed under its old address on the opposite side of traffic-heavy Marienstraße, in number 52.
If you have a sweet tooth pay a visit to the
Feinzeugs confectioner's store in the old town. It's not dedicated organic, but there's a decent selection of organic sweets, cookies, olives, oil and other delicatessen. They also sell the city's official organic and fair-trade certified chocolate, the "Hofschokolade" which comes in about 4-6 different flavours.
This chocolate is produced by the city's oldest confectioners', the
Viennese style coffee house Café Vetter in the Münsterviertel, a nice neighbourhood dating from the Wilhelminian period. With its red plush chairs the cafe to the right of the attached bakery shop invites to have an organic tea or coffee drink. Unfortunately the chocolate is the only organic product made by this artisanal bakery cum confectionery. When I asked the friendly service staff whether organic ingredients would be used in their breads, cakes and rolls she regretfully denied. The place looks a bit forlorn facing the big void of a deserted gap site, but it keeps open all days, including Sundays and public holidays.
The cafe (just like the Voll gut supermarket) accepts the local "currency", the Hof Geld, a voucher scheme supporting the local economy.
There's a second Café Vetter branch
by the city's hospital. I don't expect more organic items in these surroundings, but hopefully not less, coffee, tea and chocolate.
Coffee and lunch
For partially organic, vegetarian or vegan lunch and/or an organic coffee drink with or without a piece of home-made cake head to cafe
Jasmin, indoors lovingly decorated with small figures and other nick-nack.
It's the place where you, in other cities, would expect to mingle with students, artists, young parents with prams and/or health-conscious office workers during their lunch break. However, just as in any other shop I managed to visit during my lunch break and on my way to the train station in the early afternoon, it was far from crowded, despite the outdoor seating and the beautiful summer weather.
For a 100 percent organic snack, either sweet or savory, head for
Kreperia Kampschulte, a pretty much hole-in-the-wall creperie in the main pedestrian area opposite the church St. Marien. The owner is happy to have a chat, in a non-intrusive way. Hadn't I been in a rush to catch my train, I'd definitely loved to have a French-style buckwheat pancake.
Artisanal toys and gifts
Wooden toys and games, doll houses, pottery, candles, stationary, oils, honey, liqueurs and other high-quality products made by people with handicaps can be found at
Invito next to Lorenzpark. Unfortunately my time only allowed for a brief glimpse at the shop.
More to try
Given the name Kampschulte I'd expect the public canteen cum restaurant of the city's theatre,
Kampschultes Kultur-Kantine to use at least some organic ingredients and serve a minimum of organic beverages. However, information on the web was sparse and time limited, so you're on your own to explore.
Without doubt a hundred percent organic or (when it comes to body care and household chemistry) of natural origin are the products of
Violey,
a leading and reliable organic webshop in Germany. They ran a nice chemist's shop in the old town, opposite the townhall (Rathaus),
but when I came there in summer 2022 I came a little too late: A few weeks ago the shop closed for good, in favour of an outlet store on the premises of their warehouse which I did not have time to visit.
Closed
2022-08-03 19:00:01
[Hof, Hof_Saale, Saale-Radweg, organic, vegan, coffee, lunch, snacks, cafe, supermarkets, grocery, bodycare, zero_waste]
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Although located in the state of Lower Saxony the municipality of Lilienthal is not only the terminal stop of Bremen's tram no.4, it's also easily reachable by bicycle from Bremen, e.g. via the car-free Jan-Reiners-Wanderweg. This beautiful bicycle route through the Hollerland (a cultural landscape created by drainage by Dutch settlers around the year 1000) was opened as early as 1970 and partially runs in lieu of the former Jan Reiners train tracks, a steam train line from Bremen to Lilienthal through the moors which was operated between 1900 and 1956.
In Lilienthal make sure to stop by the wonderful farmshop of the
organic farm dairy Dehlwes with its milk vending machine. The milk is guaranteed to travel no longer that 10 kilometres on average and is processed here exclusively.
Although the shop isn't decidedly zero waste (in fact all other dairy products and the meat in the fridge and freezer are pre-packaged in plastics) the friendly shop assistant will happily fill your bags with bread, rolls and pastries and your boxes and jars with cheese and meat products from the sales counter.
All cattle, milk and bakery products as well as mindblowingly fresh veges, fruits and (in summer) berries come from the close region (there's a separate shelf for imported fruit and veges), and – following the nose-to-tail approach – you will also find ready-made meat and offal preparations in glass jars.
Just across the street you can pay a visit to the farm's own cows and hens.
There used to be a small cafe on the street, the Melkhus, which has been closed since the covid-19 pandemics started in 2020.
One supplying farm to the Dehlwes dairy is the one run by the Kaemena family which has their own 24x7 open milk vending machine.
New in 2021 Lilienthal also sports a spacious, light and clean package-free self-service supermarket, the
Kerngeschäft (a pun with the German translation of "core business") on the premises of the former bookstore a few steps off the town's main shopping street, Klosterstraße. During the summer the only fresh veges available were potatoes, but it is not unlikely that
There's everything you need of household chemicals (including dish washer tabs by the piece), products for personal hygiene, dry food and fresh dairy products (by the Kaemena farm). Some like locally produced caramels and ketchup aren't organic, clearly visible
by the missing word "bio". When I was there in the summer of 2021 the friendly shop owner told me that after the summer holidays opening hours would be increased to 8-18 Mon through Saturday, and there were plans to keep open until 8 pm at least one day per week, possibly on Thursdays.
2022-08-01 19:30:02
[Lilienthal, Bremen, organic, coffee, cafe, grocery, supermarkets, vegan, vegetarian, zero_waste, unverpackt, bodycare, Jan-Reiners-Weg]
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Those with a sweet tooth may feel in heaven when coming to the comparatively ugly urban sprawl which comprises the municipality of Selvazzano Dentro south-west of Padua and north of Abano Terme: In the neighbourhoods of San Domenico and Tencarola, devided by the crossing of the river Bacchiglione you will find a confectioner's shop cum day bar, an ice-cream parlour and finally a supermarket serving customers preferring organic food and delights.
When entering the municipality from the west following Via Euganea your first stop should be at a roundabout with
an Italian day bar cum Viennese-style cafe cum confectioner's shop where the main ingredients are organic.
At Pasticceria Da Angelo you will find organic and vegan options clearly marked, and the friendly staff will proudly and often even unasked point out what's organic. If you don't feel like a delicate ice-cream or a gorgeous pastry along with an organic coffee drink (with organic soy milk if you prefer) have
a tramezzino sandwich or toast together with a freshly made organic smoothie, or an organic soft drink. Vegan sandwich options are readily available, with organic "cold cuts", while the meat items on non-veg versions usually aren't organic. A serving of ice-cream comes at 1.40 EUR, with each additional scoop for 1.10 EUR. Vegan varieties aren't restricted to fruit flavours, you can also choose among a number of flavours made with rice or almond drink. Buy a bag of organic cookies to take home if you like, and if you're lucky there may be an organic lunch, dinner or ice-cream special during your stay. Advanced booking by phone is required for such an event.
Not enough ice-cream or arriving after half past nine in the evening? Well, you can be helped.
Gelateria Soleluna a few meters east opposite Hotel Piroga uses more than 80 percent organic, and predominantly locally sourced ingredients for their granite, gelati, and ice cakes. A delight not to be missed,
one ice-cream scoop goes for 1.40 EUR, each additional one adds approximately 1 EUR to your bill. Personally I prefer the delicate, creamy dairy flavours to the vegan fruit-based ones. The granite are available in two sizes, for 2.80 or 3.50 EUR – the refreshing lime-mint or coffee varieties will get you going in a minute on a warm summer day. Unfortunately the granite are served in one-way plastics cups, each with one-way teaspoon and straw, so you will produce a lot of waste.
On bank holidays the shop keeps open as on Sundays.
Groceries
To buy everything you need organic, from fruit and veges over dairy products and vegan alternatives to dry food, natural cosmetics, the forgotten towel or household detergents follow Via Euganea in eastern direction, cross both, the bridge over the river, and the street side. Here, on Via Padova (the street changes its name in Tencarola) you'll find a well assorted NaturaSi supermarket which also has a small section of self-service zero waste dispensers for grains and a few other dry foods and refill for most household detergents. This would also be the place you had to do most of your organic shopping when living in one of the villages in the vicinity – your next real options being the NaturaSi in Abano Terme or, naturally, the ones in the city of Padua.
Closed
- Come una volta, Montegalda,
Via Roma, 45 (neighbourhood grocery)
2022-06-12 10:00:00
[Padova, Padua, Selvazzano, Montegalda, organic, biologico, zero_waste, vegan, ice-cream, supermarkets, coffee, cafe, grocery, bodycare, household, confectioners]
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