THE COOPERATIVE The Agricultural Cooperative of Rachi Pieria “AGIOS LOUKAS” was founded in 1978 to initially operate as an administrative committee whose object was to create a cherry grove for its members. In cooperation with the local departments of the Prefecture in 1979-80, the Cooperative launched a pilot project involving the planting of a cherries grove of 350 thousand square meters (approx. 86.5 acres), which won the Cooperative a prize by the Ministry of Agriculture. This pilot project was very successful and the entire area became known on account of the new and dynamic product, the product’s quality and the cooperative nature of the particular cultivation. Until 1990 the entire annual crop – 300 to 450 tons of cherries – was allocated to exports in Europe, which improved to the country’s foreign trade balance. In 1991 the Agricultural Cooperative of “AGIOS LOUKAS” at Rachi Pieria was officially incorporated as an entity of ad hoc joint agricultural organization. In 1994-95 and in the framework of an investment plan under Leader I, the Cooperative built a sorting/refrigeration unit of 600 sq. meters which featured two (2) refrigeration chambers for a total storage capacity of 200 tons. Today the A.C of Rachi Pieria “AGIOS LOUKAS” numbers over 100 members while its cherry grove has expanded to 1,100 thousand sq. meters (approx. 271.8 acres).
