Darbo

Darbo is an Austrian family company from Stans in Tyrol that makes jams and packs honey. A. Darbo AG dates back to 1879, when the Darbo family began making fruit jams, syrups and fine fruit liqueurs at a small fruit steam plant in Gorizia (Görz), then in Austria-Hungary. The plant was badly damaged in the First World War, and the family moved to Stans in Tyrol; the growth of Tyrolean tourism in the 1920s helped sales. A new plant was built in the 1950s, when private households became customers, and a second plant opened in Stans in 1990. In the mid-1990s the company developed fruit preparations for dairies, bakeries and confectioners.

In 2009 Klaus Darbo senior handed management to his son Martin, who led the company with his uncle Adolf, the fifth generation of the family. In 2024 Klaus Darbo took over as chairman of the board; the board now consists of him and his brother Martin. According to the company's website (2024), it has just under 400 employees at four Tyrolean sites, and its product groups include jams, compotes and fruit desserts, honey, syrup and specialities.

The honey range includes Alpenhonig, Honig vom österreichischen Imker, Honig 500 g, Honig 1000 g, Honigspender 300 g, Single-Gläser 250 g, Triple-Packung 3 x 45 g. According to the producer, Alpenhonig comes from the forests and flowering meadows of the Austrian Alpine region and the Honig vom österreichischen Imker line from Austrian beekeepers; the Triple-Packung holds three Austrian honeys (blossom, forest and blossom, acacia). The 500 g blossom honey is a blend of honeys from Hungary, Spain, Greece and Romania, with the exact origin given on the label.

Why this matters to you: Darbo sells Austrian honeys alongside imported blends, so the origin line on the label matters more than the brand name.