Mălâncrav orchard

The first ecologically certified orchard in Romania

We do not know how many orchards in Romania can take pride in such figures: over 215 species of plants, 100 species of birds and 30 species of mammals. In the village of Mălâncrav in Sibiu County there is an orchard of 108 hectares, which dates from the 15th century, in which old varieties of apple trees, pear trees, plum trees and walnut trees grow. The orchard was abandoned after 1990, reaching the brink of extinction. MET rented from the State Domains Agency the entire area of ​​the orchard for which it pays an expensive rent, rebuilt the collection of fruit trees and rehabilitated the administrative building of the orchard. An ecological technology of tree cultivation and fruit processing was introduced, the orchard obtaining ecological certification. Currently, the factory annually produces about 20,000 litres of 100% organic juice. The juice is sold mainly in the hotels of the Accor hotel chain – they’ve been MET partners for more than 20 years – in the reforestation project, but also in restaurants, shops and traditional fairs. The orchard provides the villagers with permanent or seasonal jobs. The orchard hosts a plant nursery with old Transylvanian varieties of fruit trees, which are on the verge of extinction, providing a base of seedlings and grafts for farmers and contributing to the support of traditional agriculture.