The Viennese have their own flour for gingerbread

Just in time for the intense pre-Christmas season of gingerbread baking, Mayor Michael Ludwig, together with Marcel Haraszti, REWE International AG Executive Board Member and Ja! Natürlich Head proudly presented the new Ja! Natürlich organic wholemeal rye flour from Vienna. From now on, the Viennese flour is available at MERKUR throughout Austria. The organic rye comes exclusively from the cultivation areas of the Lobau Organic Centre, the forestry and agricultural enterprise of the City of Vienna. The Ja! Natürlich organic wholemeal rye flour is made from the old winter rye variety Amilo. It is very robust, hardy and has good baking properties. 

It may not be known to many, but the City of Vienna has been practising organic farming on a large scale for forty years and is one of the most important traditional organic farms in Austria. "We are very pleased to make this high-quality winter rye variety from the Lobau Organic Centre in cooperation with Ja! Natürlich available to everyone just before Christmas. The Lobau is not only one of the most popular recreational areas for the Viennese, but as you can see, it is also a valuable agricultural area. The soils are kept vigorous through crop rotation and green manuring, and no synthetic chemical pesticides are used (in accordance with EU regulations). This also protects bumblebees and bees," Vienna's mayor Michael Ludwig said happily at the presentation of the new Ja! Natürlich organic wholemeal rye flour. 

In the diverse nature of the Lobau, the valuable agricultural land has been successfully and organically farmed for more than 40 years. Marcel Haraszti, REWE International AG Executive Board Member emphasises: "This organic flour from Vienna represents an extraordinary partnership between the city and us. Two organic pioneers bring a joint product to the market - this is of course a special success story that for sure is exemplary internationally as well. A large city that is an organic pioneer itself and supplies the whole of Austria with organic flour of the highest quality is probably unique in Europe and underlines Vienna as the most liveable city." The topic of "organic" is also particularly close to the heart of Vienna's Climate Councillor Jürgen Czernohorszky: "Vienna's vegetable and arable farms have long been pioneers in the organic sector: with 27 percent organic farms and with 32 percent organic agricultural land, Vienna is among the Austrian leaders, making a significant contribution to sustainable resource use and climate protection." 

Grinding in the traditional stone mill for the highest Ja! Natürlich organic quality 

Immediately after harvesting, the organic rye from Lobau is taken directly to the stone mill in nearby Rannersdorf in Lower Austria. Here the organic grain is milled in the traditional way. Almost forgotten due to the mechanisation of milling, this old process was revived together with the operators and to this day the Rannersdorf organic mill is one of the few stone mills in all of Europe. "This not only has retro charm, but also brings some significant, qualitative advantages compared to conventional milling: by slowly grinding the grain between stones, the grains are processed more gently and with less heat. This means that the germ as well as vitamins and minerals are better preserved and the baked goods prepared with this flour turn out particularly airy and fluffy," explains Ja! Natürlich Head Andreas Steidl and emphasises: "This organic wholemeal rye flour is the result of a successful partnership between agriculture, the mill and us as marketers. 200 tonnes of organic rye from Lobau are certainly enough to make this product available all year round." 

So, this year nothing stands in the way of homemade Christmas baking from pure Viennese flour. The Ja! Natürlich organic wholemeal rye flour from the Viennese organic centre Lobau is now available in all MERKUR branches at a price of EUR 1.49 per kilogram. With the market launch, it replaces the previous Ja! Natürlich wholemeal rye flour with organic cereals from all over Austria.