OUR HISTORY
The pandemic, in March 2020, wanted my husband David and I, after a few decades of work in the field of selective cosmetics and insurance activity, to leave Lisbon and return to our Alentejo origins.
Together with our children, Maria and Miguel, aged 9 and 6, we moved to the village of Vale do Peso/Crato, in Alto Alentejo, to give shape and life to ideas that were in the drawer for a few years.
Owners of an ancestral recipe of Ginjinha, which was passed on to my husband, in secret, by his great friend, Friar Francisco de Santo António, of the Order of St. Francis of Assisi, we finally decided to give color and life to this heritage and fulfill the promise made by my husband: To plant a ginjal and craft a ginjinha based on the old formula: “Ginja Conventual Franciscana”.
Respecting all the strict steps of the production process, using the most natural and highest quality ingredients, we created a Ginjinha that is today a reference in the national and international market.
Ginjinha was the starting point for us to want to bring the best that is produced in these lands in the North of Alentejo to the world, that's why we created the online store despensafranciscana.com that brings together a unique selection of products and partners from the region.
At Despensa Franciscana we bring together the sectors that make Alentejo a sensory experience, so, as connoisseurs and lovers of the region, in addition to gastronomy, we share our personal selection of restaurants, handicrafts, tours and corners so that you can enjoy the North of Alentejo as much as us.
We are waiting for you in this wonderful corner.