{"id":2853,"date":"2026-02-28T10:21:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T08:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terraverde-chania.gr\/about-us\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T20:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:44:16","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/terraverde-chania.gr\/en\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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About Us<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Terra Verde \u2013 A Fair and Alternative Trade Model in Chania<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Social Cooperative Enterprise Terra Verde (Green Earth) is a collective of people aiming to offer an alternative approach to trade, with respect for the environment, society, and human beings.<\/p>

Its members are individuals who share the vision of a fair and ethical way of producing and distributing goods, and whose guiding principles are solidarity, equality, and the protection of nature.<\/p>

Terra Verde has been active since 2009 and currently operates two stores on Tsouderon Street in the center of Chania featuring selected food items. In these stores, people with disabilities are employed with the support of special educators and volunteers.<\/p>

Additionally, the space hosts a daily caf\u00e9 and a bookstore, offering coffee from Zapatista communities and other beverages, alongside books from small, cooperative publishing houses. Furthermore, it organizes numerous informative and social events related to the environment, society, and culture.<\/p>

Terra Verde is not just a store. It is a living entity that strives for fairer working conditions free from multinational exploitation, highlights the history, geography, and hard work of producers, supports grassroots activism, and promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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How it began<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Inspired by the social movements of Latin America, Terra Verde began its operations by distributing products such as coffee, tea, and sugar from self-organized communities, collectives, and cooperatives in Latin America, India, Vietnam, South Africa, Guatemala, and Ecuador. With the help of a network of similar collectives in Greece and Europe, agricultural and other products from producers and cooperatives engaged in social action from all over the world arrived on its shelves. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Mode of Operation<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Terra Verde team, which comprises over twenty members, operates in accordance with its statute based on the General Assembly of its members, which meets on the first Wednesday of every month and is represented by an elected Administrative Committee. The committee meets on a regular basis and decides on the cooperative’s actions following consultation with the General Assembly. <\/p>

Terra Verde’s revenues are allocated exclusively to salaries and operating expenses, with the majority of its members working on a volunteer basis. The Administrative Committee ensures absolute financial transparency by presenting the annual balance sheet to the general assembly of members. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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History & Milestones of Terra Verde<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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– 2006 || Distribution of Zapatista Coffee in collaboration with the “Sporos” Group (Athens)<\/p>

– 2008 || Initial meetings on student initiative and organization of collective caf\u00e9s at the Immigrants’ Social Center (Steki)<\/p>

– 2009 || First public Event \u2013 Discussion on Alternative and Solidarity Trade and first articles in the local press<\/p>

– 2010 || Established as a Non-Profit Civil Partnership (AMKE)<\/p>

– 2010 (May) || Store Grand Opening (view relevant poster)<\/p>

– 2011 || First employee hired at the store<\/p>

– 2013 || 1st Peer-to-Peer Agricultural Learning Circles<\/p>

– 2015 || Transitioned into a Social Cooperative Enterprise (SCE \/ Ko\u03b9\u03bd.\u03a3.\u0395\u03c0)<\/p>

– 2018 (May) || Expansion \u2013 Our space more than doubles with an extension towards Tsouderon St.<\/p>

– 2018 (September) || 1st “Collective Paces” (Syllogikoi Vimatismoi) event<\/p>

– 2019 || Creation of the Social and Solidarity Economy Information Center at 46 Tsouderon St.<\/p>

– 2019 (April) || Official opening of the “Book-aliko” bookstore with the book presentation: \u201cLike Zapata and Che\u201d<\/p>

– 2020 (June) || 1st “Books n\u2019 Beers” event<\/p>

– 2024 (May) || Opening of the “Zero Waste” branch, employing people with disabilities (PwD)<\/p>

– 2024 (June) || “Monday\u2019s Caf\u00e9” and local producer showcases<\/p>

– 2025 (October) || School visits<\/p>

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Also:<\/p>

– Participation with a stall at the Chania Anti-Racist Festival and the festival for the reclamation of the former Markopoulo Camp<\/p>

– Numerous Book Presentations<\/p>

– Zapata Parties<\/p>

– Fundraising Celebrations (Glentia)<\/p>

– Discussions on Social and Solidarity Economy<\/p>

– Participation in Networking Initiatives<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About Us Terra Verde \u2013 A Fair and Alternative Trade Model in Chania The Social Cooperative Enterprise Terra Verde (Green Earth) is a collective of people aiming to offer an alternative approach to trade, with respect for the environment, society, and human beings. Its members are individuals who share the vision of a fair and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2853","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/terraverde-chania.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/terraverde-chania.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/terraverde-chania.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terraverde-chania.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terraverde-chania.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2853"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/terraverde-chania.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2855,"href":"https:\/\/terraverde-chania.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2853\/revisions\/2855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/terraverde-chania.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}