The Cooperatives, Colle dell'Acero (The Maple Hill) and Albero della Vita (The Tree of Life) were set up by the brothers, sisters and lay people of the monastic community in the 1980s. In the initial years, the co-operations, above all, provided vegetables for shops specialising in organic products. However, the acquisition of further land, cultivating fruit orchards and vegetables, opened up new horizons for the co-operatives.

The co-operatives make use of 110 acres of land. 44 acres are used for mixed orchards, 24 acres for vegetables, 1 acre for greenhouses, and 29 acres for herbs and cereals. The herbs and cereals are grown in order to provide foodstuffs for the 100 or so buffaloes. The transformation of the products, carried out by the co-operatives is regulated by the I.M.C. (Mediterranean Institute of Certification, EU 2092/91).

Today, the co-operatives offer a interesting array of products, which can be divided under five headings:

• Tomatoes (peeled tomatoes, tomato purée, cherry tomatoes)

• Ready-made Pasta Sauces (tomatoes with basil, vegetables or aubergines)

• Vegetables pickled in oil (aubergines, courgettes, peppers, olives, mixed vegetable)

• Marmalades and Jams (orange, strawberry, raspberry, cherry, plum, pear with cane sugar)

• Fruit Juices (pear, apricot, peach, apple, plum, available in bottles (125ml / 700ml) or cartons (200ml))

• Fruit purées (apple, pear, prune, apple & banana and pear & banana purées available in 100g jars) ideal as baby food or for those with difficulty eating solid food

• Privet Juices (an organic fruit juice full of vitamins available in 200ml packs)

The Colle dell'Acero (The Maple Hill) and the Albero della Vita (The Tree of Life) are becoming well-established within the organic market in Italy and are used by the larger organic distributors (EXOR, BIO-SERVICE, BAULE VOLANTE, BIA). Their products are available in a variety of shops specialising in organic products and centres of agricultural tourism (with a large distribution in the Rome area). The co-operatives have built up a strong relationship with the 'COOPERATIVA TRA PRODUTTORI DI LATTE - CISTERNINO' (Co-operative for Milk Production in Cisternino, Italy) and with the GDO (Large Distribution Organisation) which provides our fruit juices and pasta sauces in the superstore, ESSELUNGA.

The Monastic Family supports the exchange of products with Third World countries through the organisations, CTM (Consortium of the Third World) and 'Botteghe del Mondo' ('Shops of the World').

The co-operatives reserve a fresh part of the production for sale in the four shops run by the monastic community: at the Monastery of Vallechiara, at All Saints Abbey (Florence), Aprilia (Rome) and Udine.