Sensitive and vigorous

‘We must admit that there are only a couple of areas in our lives which everyone can relate to. Among these, besides sex, eating is there for sure. Everybody must eat, without any exception, so those who deal with the production of food or raw materials will always have a job’, she remarks after my initial, general question. Before her recent prosperous business venture her career was already as brilliant as the dewdrops on top of the dark green wheat-grass.

‘I’ve always wanted to heal people; many people advised that I should study medicine, but I felt it wasn’t for me – I didn’t want to dissect animals and my attitude to blood isn’t very good either. Psychology was another option, but that time you only could study it in Budapest, and only a few applicants were accepted. So I applied for legal studies in Pécs, because I could speak very well. However, I hated studying there. I think that was because I see the world as much more complex than something that could be described by human laws. For my final exams I travelled to Pécs from Budapest, from the rented flat I shared with Laci.’

Laci, that is, László and Glória were classmates at Nagy Lajos secondary school in Pécs, that is where their lifelong relationship started. While we are talking, her husband is walking round the garden full of lavish shades of green.

'We needed money, and an exciting opportunity came our way: we founded Meló Diák with Laci Marosi and others. The president of the organisation in Pécs was Gyula Zeller Sr., and I was the vice-president. I loved it! I like organising things and it was a great pleasure to be able to help employers and students as well. In addition, I also had experience in finding a job besides studying, and how difficult it is to find good employees.’

However, they moved back to Pécs on the 4^th of September, and on the 24^th the couple’s first son Szabolcs was born. ‘I always say Szabolcs was the youngest kid at university ever, because he was regularly there since he was five days old. We closed the students’ office or I found an empty room at the Faculty of Economics to breastfeed him. We could do this while he was able to sleep in his carry-cot and didn’t start to crawl around.’

Later Szabolcs was followed by two other sons, however, Glória did not rest on her laurels after her children had been born: the first fee-paying marketing manager course started at the Faculty of Economics in Pécs, led by Béla Orosdy, and Glória completed the course.

Then a lot of people told me I shouldn’t even dream about getting a job with three children. I saw a call for competition which seemed interesting enough, and I won. It was a starting up home savings bank, which was a novelty back then in Hungary. I had been working in the finance field for years when the manager’s lifestyle showed its side-effects and I was interrupted by a serious disease. I gave up my job. I wanted to understand the causes of my illness, and it inspired a change.’

That was the point when Glória, having been used to novelties and super-efficient problem solving, plunged into the issue of nutrition. Being accurate, she tried a lot of things and as an open and sociable personality she liked sharing her experience. Her friends also tried her spouts and cakes, and from then on she could not stop; flavours and/or beneficial effects did their job, and even the friends of friends wanted to grab some food from Glória’s table.

'It seemed uncontrollable, which I didn’t like. We decided to set up a business’, says Glória. The legendarily sticky officials initially stood witless: how could an enterprise dealing with germination be classified tax-wise? ‘We trod the path together with the administrators, and I must say I had never met such helpful people before!’

The business has been working for eight years, and they found a suitable place which, with a small garden, a huge living room with glass panels and a convenient kitchen, is ideal for preparing the so-called living foods and their main ingredients. Stalks stuck out their little heads in obedient lines in the crates, all of the same length and strength.

These plants teach us humility, love and openness. I think they can feel that we care for them happily’, Gloria remarks as she notices that we keep staring at the grasses.

‘It is said with reason that if you start some change, you should look for examples; someone that already has trodden the path you choose. I always say: take a look at the person you ask for advice, and take as much into your own life as you wish. Many people have been stuck in their own traditions, and they don’t get rid of the family’s eating habits, for example, even if they are not good for their own bodies. Raw food is good, but not for everyone. Our bodies give us feedback – but we need to know its signals. The problem is that no one teaches us how to listen to ourselves. People usually leave their comfort zone only when they are shocked. But then they will open to the world.’

Glória always brings samples to artisan fairs, shows or forums, and they talk to people as well. ‘It’s important for me that a new kind of diet shouldn’t be about suffering. For instance, if you are sensitive to gluten, instead of abstinence you should find alternatives for your old meals. I always try to show new perspectives, so that people not only have a no-no-list in their minds but they can also experience the change as an opportunity, as discovering a new world. It’s not enough to tell them what I think right. I can say the green shake is good, but now that you have tried it, you have your own opinion, don’t you?’, Glória smiles.

I think I feel fresher and more awake than after a flat white. When I jokingly remark how lovely it would be to drink such a nice shake every day and ask her if she is planning to sell it bottled, Glória objects and adds, ‘Don’t you dare to come in and tell me to give you a little bag of wheat-grass, then say goodbye, because you won’t get any! It’s important for me to know what you want to do with it and why you feel you need it. I have a talk to every customer; we know when and why they come and adjust harvesting grasses or germs to their arrivals, so they can get it at their freshest which we picked and harvested especially for them and they can see when we cut them.’

And their clients patiently wait for their turn just to get a little chat with their goods here, in this haven of quiet. That is what makes the business personalised and genuine. The lady accustomed to quick decisions, who is able and willing to change, stands patiently and gently in front of her customers; she does not expect them to be quick and to eat what and how she wants. ‘Our experience and the views we got at university helps a lot, as well as the fact that we do this as a couple, that we can solve anything and can improve together.’

The next step – because there is demand for that from the customers – is yet to be thought over; this optimum state would be hard to maintain if they delivered their goods across the country. ‘Besides fresh goods, we wish to keep that customer-centred stance with which we work. It’s difficult, but we’d need to find people who have the same knowledge and professional background as we. Maybe a franchise would be suitable. But let’s deal with the present. All the opportunities have found us so far, and when we need to take the next step, we can do it.’ There is one thing for sure, though: a cookery book with a complex view can be expected soon. 

 Photos: Szabolcs Csortos, UnivPécs