Cooperative Rewe is a social organisation that supports Mapuche farmers focusing on the sustainable cultivation of berries.

Chile is the world’s third largest exporter of frozen raspberries. In the last decade, an increase in consumer demand for berries has transformed the fruit into one of the world’s main agri-food export products. 

Based in Cholchol in the Araucanía region of Chile, Cooperative Rewe is a Mapuche cooperative that produces berries and is dedicated to supporting local Mapuche farmers – a group of indigenous inhabitants native to south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. 

Following regenerative agriculture practices, Rewe sustainably sources and sells frozen juices, jams, and pulp made from berries harvested by Mapuche farmers to national and international wholesale clients and food stores. They also sell individually quick-frozen berries to exporters. 

 A large part of Mapuche indigenous lands have been degraded by forest overexploitation. Cooperative Rewe are working to restore nutrition to the soil, using organic and regenerative agricultural practices, combining new agroecological techniques with ancestral Mapuche knowledge and wisdom. 

From the cultivation of the berries to the production of agro-processed and frozen products, Rewe focusing on maintaining sustainable, responsible and clean production, guaranteeing quality products while caring for the environment. 

As part of its strategy, Rewe provides tailored technical assistance and training to its Mapuche members, supporting them to improve orchard and land management. Rewe’s production technique training is rooted in traditional Mapuche practices. Rewe organizes its farmers through “Mingakos” – a process by which farmers within the community help each other to complete farming activities, including irrigation installation, planting, and pruning, to reduce costs and improve production efficiency.  

Since 2006 Rewe has grown from five to 200 active members, impacting more than 1,000 people in the community. We look forward to supporting Rewe to scale even further through our NESsT accelerator programme.