From Raising Cows to Growing Flowers: The Story Behind the World's Southernmost Lavender Farm

Osvaldo Zampella's life took a significant turn when a classified ad in Buenos Aires led him to discover Patagonia. In 1998, while running a health services company, an advertisement for land near Esquel in La Nación newspaper sparked his interest. A subsequent visit to the region, including the valley of Trevelin and the Río Grande, captivated him, leading to the purchase of land.

By the early 2000s, Zampella and his wife, Lorena, decided to relocate to Patagonia. This move was driven by a combination of their love for the area and a growing unease with the increasing insecurity in Buenos Aires following the 2001 crisis. They sought a pristine environment suitable for their ambitious project.

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It was the area we found most virgin for this type of project.

For nearly two decades, Zampella was involved in sheep and cattle farming on land 30 kilometers from Esquel. However, his passion lay with the forest and trees, a childhood fascination that led him to extensively reforest his properties. Upon reaching 50, he sold the livestock farm to dedicate himself to his true interests: plants, particularly native species.

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I decided to dedicate myself to what I liked most.

This led them to the Cerro Cónico farm on the outskirts of Trevelin, named after a nearby mountain that supplies water to the area. The property featured natural springs, streams, a lagoon, and 40 hectares of native forest. The question then became what to cultivate on this land. The answer, aligning with his passion for plants, was lavender, a crop not previously attempted on a large scale at such a southern latitude.

Starting in 2021, after the pandemic, they planted 800 lavender plants, followed by another thousand, and then completed the rest to reach a total of 5,000 plants across six different species by 2024-2025. Cerro Cónico now boasts the southernmost lavender plantation in Argentina. The venture faced challenges, particularly adapting lavender cultivation to the cold Patagonian climate, which differs significantly from the Mediterranean conditions where lavender typically thrives. Despite initial doubts about survival in the harsh winters, the project moved forward.

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We had doubts with