The I Rodi farm was founded in Fanano in 1998 by Helen Raemy. Born in Fribourg to a Swiss father and an Italian mother, she came to Italy in 1971 and, after ten years in Modena, moved up to the mountains with her husband to live closer to the land.

Here they grow blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, redcurrants and gooseberries, and work with the wild bilberry, the fruit that symbolises the Modena Apennines. In the family workshop these become jams, compotes, extracts, nectars, juices, liqueurs and herbal teas, and for some years now also a range of bilberry-based cosmetics. I Rodi is one of the producers of the Mirtillo nero dell’Appennino modenese, a protected bilberry brand promoted by the Modena Chamber of Commerce.

Next to the workshop, since 2019, there is a shop that also sells local honey and small pieces of local craftwork, such as the marcolfe, little good-luck figures carved in stone. The products can also be ordered from the online shop, with delivery anywhere in Italy.