Locally owned | Marieta Cocoş

Beneficial syrups & yummy jams from the Cocoş family.

Marieta in her kitchen, with all her delicious and beneficial jams, cordials and syrups displayed. She has three grandsons, and there is always a friendly welcome, not only from the family but from the chickens, rabbits and dogs as well.

Truly sustainable tourism in villages like Copșa Mare supplements income from farming: It does not replace it. To sustain a way of life and the landscape here, visitors should try to spend their money with local producers and suppliers, such as the Cocoş family.

Since 2018, Marieta Cocoş and her family have planted hundreds of walnut saplings and fruit trees, the beginnings, she hopes, of a business that will eventually allow the men in her family to live and work at home all year round.

"We girls stay at home and look after the place.We start working as soon as the snow melts and we don’t stop until December. We have planted some 800 local walnut saplings and lots of fruit trees on our land outside the village. We have cherry, apple, pear & berries, all for making our own jams, syrups & cordials."

Marieta makes everything in the order the plants and fruit appear throughout the year. Other than sugar & gelatin, no preservatives are used. And strictly no pesticides and chemicals.

"All our products are made from our own crops or locally foraged sources. It’s not easy, but that’s what country life is all about. My great-great-grandfather planted 1500 vines of which we have 450 left. We make our own wine of course, but that's just for us!"

In the past, Marieta's husband, son and son-in-law were all away for nine months of the year working in Germany. But she hopes that will change now.

"I have told myself I shall never leave the country to work again. My husband and children want to find a way to make our family business work so that they can live here at home where we belong. We have started building a house for our son next to our own. It would be so good to see them all back here working to make a better life in the village."

Find out more about those families in the village offering accommodation, as well as good things to eat, drink and do.