Stephan Von Pföstl

When Stefan von Pföstl looks back on the many generations of butchers who preceded him and the changes that have taken place, he has a lot to tell. His grandfather was a slaughterer, and travelled from farm to farm; in the mornings, he slaughtered one pig every hour, and in the afternoons he boned and sectioned the meat. The farmers then processed the meat themselves. Some of them were masters of the art, and the young butcher learned a great deal from them. When the new generation came along, the process of specialisation began. Butchering techniques today call for a great deal of highly-specific knowledge and high investment. However, the contextual circumstances of the profession are not the only thing to have changed: Speck production itself is also very different to former days. In the past, farmers aspired to own the biggest, fattest pigs, while consumers today show a marked preference for lean, firm pork. How the pigs are fed is central to achieving this. Today, Pföstl sources his fresh meat from a slaughterhouse in Bavaria, and is consistently impressed with the quality.

The company was founded by Stephan’s grandfather in 1908, when he purchased a farm and tavern with a butcher’s premises in Algund/Lagundo. His son Stefan von Pföstl took over and renovated the company in 1978, after having worked with his father for 15 years. He built a new premises with a modern butcher’s, which also housed the traditional tavern area. Quality has always been Stefan’s uppermost priority: He had always wanted to produce speck which was free of preservatives, and carried out endless experiments in order to reach the results he aspired to. If a ham shows the slightest bit of aesthetic imperfection, it is not put up for sale. Alongside top quality, the visual appeal of a product is also paramount; first and foremost, customers look for a “good-looking” piece of speck.