THE PATHS OF THE ŠAVRINKE

ŠAVRINKAS – EGG SELLERS AND TRADERS

“It was probably, as one might say, in their blood … to trade.”

The Šavrinkas were not merely egg sellers. As itinerant traders, for decades they maintained a network of exchange between the Istrian hinterland, Trieste and other coastal towns. They collected and purchased eggs and other agricultural produce, sold them at city markets, and brought back to the villages goods that could not be obtained there. Their trade was one of the foundations on which many families survived.

The term ‘egg sellers’ arose because eggs were the most important product in their trade, but the Šavrinkas also sold milk, cheese, poultry, fruit, vegetables and other agricultural produce.