At a Glance
Location: Chile
Impact Areas: Suppliers, Employment
People Supported:
Small Producers, Women, Migrants
Joined NESsT Portfolio:
2024
Overview
Chile has a longstanding tradition of beekeeping. Today, the practice continues to play a significant role in the country’s farming communities, where approximately 9,000 individuals rely on beekeeping as their primary source of income. Bees are also essential to the pollination of crops, enhancing farmer’s productivity while protecting local biodiversity.
Founded in 2017, Andes Bee is a Chilean enterprise born from the need to create more ways for beekeepers to get their products to the market and raise awareness of the unique properties of honey produced in the Andes region. Building upon three generations of beekeeping tradition, Andes Bee sources sustainable honey and bee products from small beekeepers, paying them fair prices while promoting and advancing their work.
Beekeepers that form part of the Andes Bee network come from rural or semi-rural areas where resources and basic services are limited and access to formal training is scarce. By equipping its suppliers with valuable technical knowledge to improve the quality of their honey, Andes Bee has increased its suppliers’ income by 35–45%.
Beyond supporting the economic stability of beekeepers, Andes Bee strives to celebrate and preserve Chile’s rich beekeeping heritage. Its premium line of honey and bee products showcases the natural properties of honey – which is renowned for antibacterial, antioxidant, and prebiotic properties – and allows customers to trace products back to the beekeepers they were produced by.
Through strategic partnerships, Andes Bee has successfully positioned its products in markets in Chile and Europe, while supporting local beekeeping communities to expand their production capacity from 250 to 2,000 beehives to meet client demands.
Results & Impact
35–45%
higher income for beekeepers
100
beekeeping families expected to be supported by 2026
70%
of beekeepers expected to be supported by 2026 are women
““Born from three generations of beekeeping tradition, Andes Bee aspires to share the benefits of honey with customers who value quality, traceability, and the unique characteristics of honey produced in the Andes region.””
NESsT Investment
Andes Bee has solidified its market position by prioritizing social responsibility, strategic partnerships, sustainable growth, and high-quality products, and is equipped to meet the export standards for honey in the EU market.
With the support of NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, Andes Bee will focus on strengthening Chile’s beekeeping value chain by expanding marketing opportunities, product development for other bee products such as propolis, and reinforcing its technical support to its suppliers.
In 2024, the enterprise will launch a tailored supplier development program for small beekeepers with 75 to 350 beehives. The year-long program will cover topics such as beekeeping management and best practices, supplier registration and certification, and product traceability through QR labeling, ensuring local beekeepers a smooth transition into the global marketplace.