Johannes Gutmann

"It was grown and dried in the Czech Republic. But it was not allowed to be mixed and processed there. In Austria, we had the advantage of being able to process and sell our products. That was not allowed in the Czech Republic. So we would transport it to Austria, mix it here, pack it and then bring it back to the Czech Republic. It was a pity, but in the beginning, it wasn't allowed to be done otherwise. We can also mix teas in the Czech Republic now; we are registered there. In the beginning, it was an advantage because the consumers in the Czech Republic did not trust Czech production. If someone came from abroad, from Germany or Austria, that was the best. Consumers did not trust Czech products. It only changed over time.”

"I knew the Czech agricultural system from school. That there were unified agricultural cooperatives. And that people had to put everything into those unified agricultural cooperatives. And that they thought that the yields would be higher that way. I visited an agricultural cooperative there and was surprised. I thought to myself that we could farm better on small areas in Austria. Of course, it is easier to work on large surfaces with large machines. But the truth is that here, with small farms, we have higher yields than a unified agricultural cooperative. I saw it in 1985 when I came to Prague as a tourist. As I drove by, I saw the fields. I saw the cities, the shops, and how the supply works there. When I came back, I was really very grateful that we had a different system in Austria."