Heads of Post, officers, staff and family-members of the ASEAN Committee in Santiago pose for a photo after the successful alpaca farm visit.

Alpacas in the farm segregated after shearing to allow regrowth of fiber.

Quintessence Farm’s heavy processes sheared alpaca fiber into fine threads for knitting.

(Santiago, 30 March 2019) – As part of its cultural and trade initiatives, the ASEAN Committee in Santiago (ACS), composed of the Embassies of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, visited the Quintessence Alpaca Breeding Center in Llay Llay to discuss the marketability of garments and other fine materials made using alpaca fiber.

Quintessence Alpaca Breeding Center is a family-owned breeding farm and is one of the world’s largest exporter of alpaca products. It prides itself for developing genetic research, improvement and a strict breeding and nutritional program for its more than 1,200 alpacas—making their alpacas among the finest in the world.

Farm owner Ms. Maria Herlinda De La Garza also shared the farm’s best practices which could be applicable to ASEAN countries’ agricultural sectors, particularly in sheep farming, dairy and poultry farms, and other animal breeding industries.

As the half-day activity similarly involved ASEAN embassy officials, staff and family-members, it also served as another excellent opportunity for ACS embassies to strengthen ties and discuss other socio-cultural and trade events earmarked for 2019. END