About the Center
The teaching and research side of Skugga Estate. Everything we learn, we share.
The Skugga Mae On Agricultural Learning Center is the teaching and research side of Skugga Estate. Our rule is simple: everything we learn, we share. That includes what failed. Local farmers are welcome to use our methods, even if they go on to compete with us.
Why here
Skugga sits in Ban Sahakorn, in the San Kamphaeng Cooperative Village project area of Mae On District, Chiang Mai. This is a farming community of dairy herds, orchards and smallholdings, 40 minutes from the city. Mae On has the land, the water and the people. What many farms here lack is a route from the crop to the customer. The Center exists to help build that route.
What makes us different
Most agricultural training stops at the farm gate. Ours goes further, because we run every step as a working business:
Grow: in a tropical climate, with the problems and fixes recorded season by season
Process: fermenting, drying, roasting, curing, culturing, churning
Make: finished products in our own lab and kitchens
Package and price: costing, labeling, the licenses you need
Sell: through our café, shop, restaurant, workshops and partners
Our sites
Skugga Vineyard, Ban Sahakorn 1: tropical grapes, the Dairy & Meat Curing Research Room, and the Center office and library
Skugga Farm, Ban Sahakorn 2: cacao and farm crops, the coffee and tea workshop, the tree-to-bar chocolate workshop, the chocolate production lab, the Dairy Research Workshop for ice cream and yogurt, and the plant nursery
Skugga coffee farm, Doi Saket: forest-grown Arabica coffee alongside wild Assam tea
Our team
Each pillar is run by a dedicated team: the vineyard team, the farm and plantation team, the coffee and tea team, the chocolate lab, and the dairy and curing team. Around 60% of our people live in Mae On, and half of those in Ban Sahakorn itself.