Gastronomy & Agroecology Product Innovation Training - Valle del Cauca

Our Mission

Niebla is a living laboratory rooted in the cloud forest of Dapa, Valle del Cauca, Colombia — a productive garden, living classroom, and cultural platform where food recovers its place in a living cycle. Our mission is to build bridges: between the land and the kitchen, between small-scale agroecological producers and the chefs and consumers who should be their natural market, and between ancestral food knowledge and the contemporary gastronomic economy. We believe food is not an input — it is a link in a living cycle — and that the way we grow, transform, share, and return it is an ethical stance toward biodiversity, territory, and community.

Background & Problem Statement

Valle del Cauca is one of the most biodiverse regions in Colombia and sustains an extraordinary range of native species, ancestral crops, and traditional food knowledge. Small-scale agroecological farmers from campesino, Afro-descendant, and indigenous communities the true stewards of this richness and hold the knowledge of people, land, and food that has shaped the region's culture and identity for generations. Yet that knowledge rarely finds a stable path to the majority of tables and kitchens in the region. Most small-scale producers in Niebla’s network depend on traditional weekend markets to sell their goods — arriving with harvests they hope will move, with no guarantee of demand. This instability is particularly damaging in agroecological farming, where production requires months of planning and long-term investment. Without predictable markets, that deep commitment to the land becomes a financial risk rather than a strength.

The disconnection runs deeper than logistics. Chefs and consumers in Cali make purchasing decisions without knowing what exists within 100km of their kitchens — Valle del Cauca's underutilized native species, traditional ferments, and ancestral ingredients remain invisible to those who could utilize and bring awareness to them with high impact. 

The result is a food system increasingly disconnected from its own cultural roots. When the link between producer and consumer is broken, it is not only an economic loss — it is a loss of territory, memory, and community. Recipes disappear. Ingredients fall out of use. The stories behind the food go untold. Consumers remain unaware of the richness available within reach of their own communities and the native ingredients, ancestral preparations, and living food cultures that define this region. Rebuilding that connection is at the heart of Niebla. (The words Tierra. Memoria. Ciclo. are part of the Niebla logo.) 

The Project

The goal is to launch a four-month training program starting in September 2026 for 20 small-scale agroecological producers from within a 100km radius of Dapa — farmers who already carry deep knowledge of the territory but lack the technical support and market connections to translate that knowledge into stable economic opportunity.

The program begins on the Niebla farm. Each producer enters as an investigator of their own productive system — mapping underutilized species, identifying ingredients with gastronomic potential, and exploring transformation opportunities specific to their land and harvests. Virtual classes on regenerative gastronomy, fermentation, and preservation run alongside practical labs where producers develop real transformed products such as ferments, preserves, and value-added preparations rooted in the region's culinary traditions.

A week-long in-person intensive at Niebla brings producers and the culinary team of Restaurante Domingo together to experiment, exchange knowledge, and define the transformed product each producer will develop and bring to market. The program culminates in a public artisanal market where producers present and sell their products directly to consumers, chefs, and hospitality professionals — opening relationships and commercial opportunities that extend well beyond the program itself.

The Change We're Creating

By the end of the program, each of the 20 participating producers will have developed at least one transformed product — a ferment, preserve, or value-added preparation derived from their own farm — alongside a concrete narrative for bringing it to market. New commercial links between producers and Cali's gastronomic sector will be established, post-harvest losses reduced, and a growing inventory of native and non-conventional food plants from the region will be documented and actively integrated into local supply chains for the first time.

The change we are working toward extends beyond the program itself. Through Mesa Viva — Niebla's regenerative dining experience — a network of producers is already forming, with several supplying produce directly to restaurants in Cali. This program accelerates and deepens that movement, building the foundation for a sustained community of producers, chefs, and hospitality professionals connected by shared values and direct economic relationships. The model we are developing — where restaurants and producers are linked through stable, ongoing agreements rather than unpredictable weekend markets — has the potential to become a replicable template for other territories in Colombia facing the same structural disconnection.

Longer term, Niebla sees this as the beginning of an expanding market for ancestral and non-conventional ingredients that have never had a formal path to the table — products with deep cultural roots, remarkable gastronomic potential, and stories worth telling.

Our Team, Partners & Experience

In eight months of operation, since September 2025, Niebla has established a productive agroecological garden with twice-weekly harvests, run two Mesa Viva pilot events, and built an active producer network within 100km. We have conducted a formal workshop with producers to document their needs and opportunities, and piloted a two-way exchange program where chefs from Domingo work on the farm and farm volunteers spend time in a professional kitchen. The program we are now launching grows directly from that foundation.

Niebla operates under the support of Fundación Vida, a Colombian social development foundation whose mission aligns with building sustainable food systems and community wellbeing. The program is led by Catalina Vélez, founder and chef of Restaurante Domingo, and Luis Alfonso Pino, Niebla's project coordinator and regional lead for Slow Food Colombia's Youth Network (SFYN).

Catalina has dedicated 18 years to researching Colombian ingredients, territories, and culinary traditions, and has been recognized internationally for her commitment to ethical and regenerative cuisine. Restaurante Domingo is a long-term institutional partner of Niebla, committed to incorporating producers' products into their menu and supply chain — bridging the gap between the farm and one of Cali's leading gastronomic spaces. Luis brings extensive national experience in agroecology, food sovereignty, and community development, and has represented Colombian regenerative agriculture at international gatherings in Italy, Peru, and the United States. Together, they bring seven years of work within the Slow Food movement — including representation at Terra Madre in Turin and participation in the Latin American gathering of young farmers — grounding this project in deep territorial knowledge and established networks.