Building Macrocystis farming communities in Chile with Huiro Regenerativo and IPMAPY
While cultivation technology has been progressing, it’s confronting to see many farmers still struggling to sell their harvest in Europe. Interestingly, a professional processing industry is already established in Chile, supplied by wild harvesting (96%). We work with IPMAPY in the project Huiro Regeneritivo to train local farmers and prove that seaweed farming can be a sustainable business case in the Los Lagos region.
The partnership combines local knowledge, infrastructure, and resources from Chile with Hortimare’s specialized expertise in seaweed domestication and production scaling. Huiro Regeneritivo has successfully cultivated their own seed and farmed their produce, but they need further optimization and support, which led to this partnership.
The journey began in December 2023 when the Hortimare team visited Huiro Regeneritivo after the Dutch Seaweed Innovation mission organised by RVO. Following frequent online meetings, Joshua Masel provided hands-on support in February, resulting in the establishment of a standardized hatchery within two months.