Chía
Chia Corp™ (Chia Corp S.A.) is a multinational company with its headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its aim is the production and trade of chia seeds (salvia hispanica L.) and its byproducts.
Chia Corp™ trade chia seeds on thirty different farms based in three countries from where they export worldwide. Chia seeds are grown in the company´s own farms as well as farms managed directly by themselves or under advice and strict inspection of their technical department. These farms belong to both small producers who plant no more than 5 ha/yearly as well as large producers whose chia plantations reach 1.500 ha/y.
The Chia Corp technical department is formed by agronomists specially trained and with a huge experience in crops in each of the different countries where they are developing their activities.
The strategic decision of producing and storaging the seed in different countries minimizes climatic and political risks, allowing the continuous product flow along the year.
Chia Corp basic activities are divided into 3 large areas called:
• R & D, whose aims are:
- to improve the agricultural production by means of genetics, and farming practices
- to find out new uses for the seed and its byproducts.
- to determine potential production areas
- to collect and preserve the assorted chosen varieties by
Precolumbian natives for the sake of avoiding extinction.
• AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, whose aims are:
- to produce seed, with crops in fields distributed in different countries
- to adapt the seed according to different markets´ requirements
• TRADE, whose aims are:
- to distrubute stocks strategically and keep them into cold
– storage chambers
- to run sales
- to coordinate exports for the customers to receive them in due time.
L“Salvia Hispanica L.” Chia is a summer annual herbaceous oily plant member of the Labiatae family, original from Mexican Central valleys and Guatemala. It was one of the staple food of Central American Civilizations during Precolumbian period. It was considered as important as corn, bean and amaranth.
Although the chía seed appears as an essential Omega -3 fatty acids source, its chemical compound also shows several and very attractive elements from the human nutrition point of view, as content and quality of protein, antioxidants and dietary fibre.
MODERN HISTORY
(Chia Corp™, December 14, 2007)
For over 4000 years the man and chia were connected through the agricultural cultivation and food. In the last 500 years, religious persecutions almost caused chia disappearance that lost the important position that ranked in Mesoamerican societies. In 1965, chia seed started to trade in healthy food stores in South of California and Arizona. By mid-80´s, its demand was so scarce, that farmers could not sell their production. But, by the end of the 80´s, the production line known as Chia Pet TM appeared in USA. This increased chia demand and few agriculturers that still cultivated it could place their production again. During this period, chia was sold in Mexican markets as a raw material to make a drink called ” fresh chia” , consumed as religious or ethnical reasons and its oil was used in painting by a small group of artcraftmen. A total of 300 ha yearly planted in Jalisco state, Mexico, was enough to supply the market. Besides Mexico, some native villages from Guatemala and Nicaragua also produced chia seeds. Only some few lots were sown in these countries and with similar purposes as the ones in Mexico. Recently at mid-90´s, scientific and epidemiologic information showed the negative effects that saturated fats, trans-isomers and the unbalance between Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids had on human health and the need to increase the consumption of O-3 fatty acids to prevent from heart disease, cancer, depression, etc. About the same time, the first scientific publications appeared with the results of the trials with chia as part of the Northwestern Argentina Regional Project. The information of this specie as a natural source of Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, dietary fibre grew the general interest in crops. The widespread of this information, together with the permanent availability of seeds, caused the falling of prices at reasonable levels in new markets and chia gained a nutritional position. Slowly, and as food, began to spread outside Mexico, but only to USA and Argentina. Today, it is possible to find chia in human and animal food. It is used in the form of food supplementary, energetic bars, or in enriched breads with O-3 fatty acids. It is also used the entire seed to produce an ethnical beverage, fresh chia, consumed by Mexican and Nicaraguan native descendants, and tokme sharbati, consumed by Iranian immigrants from USA. Chia seeds are sold in supermarkets and ethnical food stores in USA, mainly is Southwest states, and since the end of 2001 nutritional supplements enriched with chia seeds and/or oils are available in Canada, Japan, E.U. and Rusia. Its is also possible to get energetic bars and several chia products thru internet. As animal supplements, the chia is used for horses and is sold in specific stores in USA, and it is also used to produce O-3 fatty acids enriched eggs. Recently, in this country, it has been included as O-3 source in commercial formulas for cats.
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