As a company advisor and risk manager, Josef Gangl made so much money that he was able to live a life of luxury. Nevertheless, the German farmer's son wasn't happy with his work. He quit his job and went back to his roots. Together with his father Josef and brother Stefan, he is now producing health food at the edge of the town of Wels. Apart from various vegetables, the 42-year-old is growing all sorts of special tomato varieties.
Apart from a lot of work, some patience is also required for his tomato cultivation: "Anyone expecting large harvest quantities will be disappointed. Some plants only produce a few tomatoes each season," Gangl says. But the flavour of his special tomatoes leaves nothing to be desired. "The tomato is the Austrians' favourite vegetable. It got a bad reputation due to industrial production, because flavour and nutrients were lost. The consumer knows that, and is grateful to me that I restored the tomato to its former glory." So tomatoes like the ones found on supermarket shelves, are not found at Gangl's. "That's why we fetch prices upwards of four Euro per kilo for our curiosities. The most expensive variety is a special cherry tomato at seven Euro per kilo".