“I belong to a generation where there was no internet, to the glory days of pipeño wines, and associativity has been something new for us, a nice challenge, because we have to innovate, but honestly it has been difficult for us, because we drag a cultural weakness; we are not like Europe, where they have a long history of cooperativism. But even so, we continue forward and we have achieved important things,” says Justo Neira (69), a winemaker from the Checura sector of Guarilihue, in the commune of Coelemu, and president of the Moscin Coop Cooperative.
This peasant company, which began as a limited company with 15 partners in 2012 and last year became a cooperative with nine of its founders, who are dedicated to the production of grapes and wines from the Cinsault, Muscat of Alexandria, País, Semillon and Pinot Noir strains, was chosen by Indap –together with the associative project Travesía del Pipeño– to celebrate the International Day of Cooperatives in the Ñuble region, established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1992 to highlight, every first Saturday in July, their contribution to a more humane and sustainable future.
The national director of Indap, Santiago Rojas, visited the cooperative’s winegrowers at the Atelier Massoc Winery, in the commune of Quillón, where they make their wines together with another dozen companies from the region.
During the event, Rojas sent greetings to the agricultural cooperatives that work with INDAP and highlighted the potential that associative work represents for family agriculture in the country.
Seremi of Economy joined the celebration
The Regional Ministerial Secretariat of Economy, Development and Tourism also highlighted the significance of the Cooperatives for Ñuble and their impact on the community, making visits to these companies and actively participating in relevant activities such as the Second Cultural Territory Festival that is taking place this weekend in Chillán.
At that point, precisely, the Seremi of Economy Erick Solo de Zaldívar, delved into the value of the coThey point out that “they are much more than companies. They promote fundamental values such as associativity and democracy, building deep ties with the territory. In the government of President Boric we have made the associative economy a key pillar for our productive development. In Ñuble, we have invested nearly 200 million pesos to strengthen and create cooperatives, benefiting small producers and local businesses so that they are more competitive and scale their business models. Currently, in our region we have more than 40 active cooperatives, standing out in sectors such as agriculture, agro-business, and other sectors.livestock and farming, and now we are expanding into new areas such as the creative industries.”
It is important to note that the 40 cooperatives in force in Ñuble have around 80,000 members and belong mainly to the Services, Agricultural, Farming, Rural and Production and Labor sectors.
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