Chile boasts many large shopping malls, and its retail sector — one of the most mature industries in the country — has expanded into the rest of Latin America. Yet a quick stroll through any neighbourhood in Santiago reveals that local corner stores are still very much a fixture of Chilean life.Chileans are, in fact, equally comfortable making credit card transactions in department stores and patronising the hundreds of sprawling outdoor markets renowned for the quality and variety of their fruits and vegetables. In these ferias libres [street markets] and in local grocery stores, many products are sold in bulk or by weight.This traditional concept inspired commercial engineer José Manuel Moller and industrial designer Salvador Achondo to set up Algramo, a social enterprise that has rapidly expanded beyond Chile’s borders and has already won numerous international awards and distinctions.The company took shape in 2012, when its founders saw how poor families living in the city’s out...
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