Jose “Pepe” Vico and his wife Margit used innovative permaculture techniques to turn a salty desert into a sustainable oasis of biodiversity - the first organic farm in Peru! Their stretch of Peruvian coastal desert has never been exposed to chemical pesticides or fertilizers—instead they use innovative agricultural practices to keep the soil rich and make their olive products simply delicious! The "Chacra Blanca" farm is a family business established in 1990 on the desert coast of Peru in the Chilca Valley, 60 km south of Lima. The company main objective was sustainable farming and reforesting the desert coast south of Lima.

When we began researching which variety of trees could be the most suitable for our purposes, we concluded that the olive tree was the best ,since the olive tree flourishes in a desert climate due to its resistance to salt and low need for water, in addition to continuing demand of table olives and olive oil, our project would not only be beneficial to the land but also be sustainable.

Today, this desert land has become a thick forest of olive trees that has created its own microclimate, while greatly increasing its wildlife; especially birds and insects. To preserve biodiversity, we also grow other fruits such as figs, pomegranates, citrus and grapes. We also keep spaces dedicated to the cultivation of pastures for animals, which serve as natural fertilizer producers.

These plants are: Alfalfa, forage sorghum and natural pastures. As we raise guano-producing animals: Horses, sheep, goats and rabbits. Today we have our own processing plant for olive oil and table olives, achieving a strict quality control in all phases of production.