Since the 2016/17 school year, the Department of Nutrition and Tourism at Marie Curie College of Tourism and Biotechnology in Merano has, under the leadership of Stefanie Ausserer, Mirko Stocker and Andreas Dietl, been working on the recipe for a special aperitif as part of the students’ annual projects. The support of sponsors, including predominantly the Nägele company, the students’ own ambition, and many experiments and tests have resulted in the creation of “Siemr”.
Siemr consists of fruity blueberries, apple juice, mint and, naturally, a secret ingredient. The recipe is guarded closely. Once the initial stage of product development was complete, part of the development work was to come up with a name. The tourism specialists at the college took on responsibility for this task, as well as for drawing up a business plan. The idea to name this special aperitif “Siemr” came about quite spontaneously on the way to school one day, probably at the sight of the snow-covered Zielspitze, Partschins local mountain, and the figure seven that can be seen in the rock formation. Siemr is South Tyrolean dialect for seven.
In May 2017 Siemr was presented at a parents’ evening for newly enrolled students, and the managing director of Partschins Tourist Information, Karin Thaler, became aware of it.
Mirko Stocker was asked to get in touch with Partschins Tourist Information as soon as the project development was completed and the story was ready to continue.
That same autumn the college made contact with Partschins Tourist Information and an initial meeting, including a Siemr tasting session, was arranged.
There was no need to fine tune the recipe any further - the product was ready to be launched. After a few small changes to the graphic design, and meetings with the manufacturer, Nägele, the hotels and restaurants, and other Partschins businesses were made aware of the product and orders began to be taken.
At the same time, an agreement to sponsor Siemr and for financial support for future projects was hammered out with the college and signed.
The application to trademark Siemr was filed at the same time.
In April 2018 the first 3,600 litres of Siemr were delivered to establishments in Partschins with repeat orders being taken as early as June. Siemr is served pure, as SportSiemr (with mineral water) or as ProSiemr (with Prosecco) in Partschins’ hotels and restaurants. Siemr is also available to buy in Partschins’ shops, while stocks last.
This was followed by a photo shoot with the product developers - now almost ready to graduate from college - right in the place where they did their work, all sorts of printed matter, a website, advertising, and in 2019, the highlight so far: the making of the Siemr film right by the legendary “seven” below the summit of the Zielspitze and the enjoyment of the lifestyle aperitif in the heart of Partschins.
In the meantime, the college has presented the product at the annual art, handicrafts and gourmet market “Olls handgemocht” (Everything Made by Hand). The product developers themselves are now, after graduating from college in 2018, already in the world of work or studying at university.
We would very much like to thank the college students who developed Siemr and worked on the project with such passion and dedication. The college directors, Dr. Veronika Rieder (until 2018) and Dr. Giovanni Frigo (from 2018), deputy director, Professor Piero Di Benedetto, and the lecturers, Stefanie Ausserer, Andreas Dietl and Mirko Stocker, who believed in this project and supported their students along the way.
It is an honour for us to be able to serve Siemr in the community of Partschins and to show our respect and appreciation for their hard work.