Cooperativa Chortitzer (Lácteos Trébol)

The Cooperativa Chortitzer Ltda. originated in 1927, when Mennonite pioneers founded Colonia Menno (today Loma Plata), in the department of Boqueron, in the heart of the Paraguayan Chaco; it was formally organized as a cooperative in 1962. It is one of the largest cooperatives in the country and directly employs some 3,000 people. Its dairy brand Lacteos Trebol processes more than 150 million liters of raw milk per year, working with close to 1,000 producers; in the 1980s it installed the first long-life (UHT) milk plant in Paraguay. Production is sold mostly in the domestic market and a portion is exported to destinations such as Russia, Brazil and Bolivia. In addition to the dairy industry, the cooperative operates an animal feed factory, slaughterhouse, supermarkets, workshops, credit and electric power services, import and export, transport and agricultural training, establishing itself as a driver of development in the central Chaco. Its main industrial headquarters is in Loma Plata.