Chocolatier Paola Devoto built Almendrar around a marzipan recipe found on a trip through southern Chile, now making alfajores, volcanes and bombitas from her Puerto Varas kitchen, shipped nationwide every Monday.
Best for Marzipan alfajores, volcanes and bombitas
Almendrar began when chocolatier Paola Devoto came across an old marzipan recipe while traveling through southern Chile and decided to build a business around it. From her kitchen at Decher 999, on the corner with Los Alpes in Puerto Varas, she turns that base into alfajores, volcán-shaped treats and bombitas — small filled spheres in flavors like toffee and cream — pairing the marzipan with chocolate coating and quality nuts rather than fillers. Devoto describes her motivation in terms of bringing people together around the table over something good to eat and a real conversation, and the shop's growth reads as an extension of that idea: what started as one recipe has expanded into a broader line of chocolates, desserts and cakes as customers asked for more. Orders are taken online and by phone, with the kitchen dispatching nationwide every Monday so product reaches customers across Chile within the week rather than sitting as a purely local specialty. It's a small, named-owner operation — Devoto's name and story front the business rather than a house brand — built outward from a single found recipe into a full confectionery line still centered on marzipan and good nuts.
Founded by Belgian-born chocolatier Dominique Vergeynst, this Puerto Varas shop at Calle Portales 328 makes chocolate bars, pralines, and alfajores blended with wild berries from the Los Lagos region. The chocolateria sells both from its storefront and through an online shop with nationwide shipping.
Best for Chocolate bars, pralines, and alfajores with wild Los Lagos berries from Belgian-born
Beyond its own chocolates, Mudolph's Walker Martinez shop in Puerto Varas curates a small-producer emporium of honey, maqui berries, smoked goods, and cheeses from partner brands like Bezma and Raymapu. It ships nationwide and offers corporate discounts.
Working from Puerto Varas, Telares Artesanales del Sur turns reused salmon and cowhide leather donated by local saddlers, plus driftwood from Lake Llanquihue, into rings, earrings and traditional witral looms, shipped free across Chile.
Best for Rings, earrings and wall looms hand-made from reused salmon and cowhide leather
Telares Artesanales del Sur turns leather that would otherwise be discarded into jewelry and woven pieces. The Puerto Varas workshop sources reused salmon and cowhide leather donated by Chilean saddlers, working it into rings, necklaces, earrings and wallets alongside decorative witral — the traditional standing looms used across southern Chile for weaving — built from driftwood and sticks gathered along the shores of Lake Llanquihue. The business frames its sustainability angle plainly: reducing waste from the region's salmon and leather industries while supporting the saddlers who supply the material, rather than treating recycled leather as a marketing label alone. Beyond leather, the workshop also works in sheep wool, felting and burlap, and describes its mission as rescuing local identity through what it makes — tying the craft to southern Chilean regional heritage rather than a generic artisan-market style. Customers order through WhatsApp or the shop's contact form, with free shipping across Chile and no requirement to visit in person. For a small operation, the combination of a specific waste stream, a specific traditional form, and a specific material source gives the work a clear regional signature rather than a generic "handmade Chilean crafts" pitch.
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