Country: Chile | Region: Patagonia
Our Story
A handful of beekeepers came together in 2007 and founded Cooperativa Mieles Del Sur to help small-scale honey producers gain access to larger markets. We are now a cooperative of 20 beekeeping families who live in rural areas of the Lakes Region of southern Chile (Patagonia), and our mission is to offer our beekeepers a value-add for their honey, access to botanical and geographic certifications, and a bottling facility that meets exportation requirements. Our beekeepers follow high-quality standards and use treatment-free practices with their bees, and in exchange for this commitment we pay our beekeepers above the market prices for their honey.
Our Honey
Our honeys flow from the native and wild flora of the temperate rainforests of the southern Andes, in areas free from industrial pollution, and far from commercial crops and GMOs. These rainforests contain native, nectar-rich tree species that bloom in different seasons, which allows skilled beekeepers to harvest high-percent monofloral honey varieties that differ greatly in aroma, flavor, color, and texture. Our cooperative does not blend the honeys of different beekeepers or different harvest seasons, and this ensures that each batch is unique and pure.
Annual Production Capacity: Currently 6 tons
Our Facility and Quality Standards
We have a small honey extraction and packing facility that is authorized by the Chilean Health Service and the Agricultural and Livestock Service of the Ministry of Agriculture. Our cooperative sends honey samples to the laboratories of the Catholic University in Santiago for analysis and certification of their botanical origin in accordance with the Chilean Norm NCh2981.012005. Our extraction and bottling facility is inspected and certified to meet European Union and FDA standards. All of our beekeepers have been trained in Good Beekeeping Practices, a governmental program in Chile aimed at assuring beekeepers produce the highest-quality, traceable honey, maintain healthy bees, and use environmentally-friendly practices.
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