SuriPaco Farm, founded in 2000 by Ken and Claudia Raessler as Royal River Alpaca Company (a Suri Alpaca farm) followed the purchase of their first three Suri alpacas. During the subsequent years they have continued to focus on Suri alpacas, their genetics and improving the quality of their Suri herd. Their sought after improvements in animal quality form the foundation for improving the entire U.S. Suri breed: density, luster and fineness.
Ken’s background is in medicine. He is currently a practicing anesthesiologist with Spectrum Medical Group in Portland, ME. Claudia was a nurse-educator who in 1984 returned to school, first to obtain a J.D. from the University of Arizona and later, an L.L.M. in tax from the University of Florida. She is currently “of Counsel” to the Portland law firm of Marcus, Clegg and Mistretta where she practices primarily in the area of “not-for-profit” corporate business law. As the farm and our interests matured, Ken became the physical plant “guy” and Claudia the fiber and yarn “expert” with continued collaboration between them on husbandry practices and medical care. Together they have learned the intricacies of commercial fiber production and end product development.
The farm physical plant has also grown over the years and now consists of a single, large, 2-story barn housing a growing yarn and dry goods distribution center, three 24’ x 24’ run in sheds and 12 acres of fenced pasture for approximately 80 Suri alpacas. One full-time employee provides farm management assistance and several part time employees assist with the production/sales areas.
In 2009, as our Suri herd grew and we began to focus more on the commercial uses of U.S. alpaca fiber, we decided a name change was in order—hence the current name: SuriPaco Farm (Suri because of the type of alpaca and Paco the Quechua word for alpaca). As SuriPaco we helped set up a natural fiber wash facility in Maine and have begun to produce U.S. made alpaca products—first yarn and now socks with other products under development. All of these items will be available through our new e-commerce site, SuriPaco Bodega: www.suripacobodega.com.
With the recent positive changes in the economy, we believe the alpaca market will continue to be a viable industry for individuals desiring to have a farm “experience” while raising interesting, somewhat “quirky” animals that produce excellent fiber without needing to become “dinner” for someone. Please “travel” through the rest of our site to see if alpacas may also be for you.
Thank you for visiting,
Ken and Claudia