This certified Bird Friendly and Fairtrade Organic coffee comes from Asociación Civil Guaya’b, an association in the Huehuetenango region of Guatemala. Of its 330 members, 316 are of indigenous descent.
Formally established in 1998, Guaya’b began selling to the Fairtrade market in 2000.
“Since we began selling at the Fairtrade price we have seen a big improvement in our quality of life,” says Antonio Carmelo Camposeco, president of Guaya’b. “Cooperative members can now afford to buy clothes and medicine for their families, and they benefit from the new programs the cooperative has implemented with revenue from Fairtrade sales.”
The extra income from Fairtrade prices has also enabled Guaya’b farmers to reinvest in their community. As a result, the region’s economy is more stable, and the rate of migration has decreased. Some of the projects conducted with Fair Trade premiums include:
Medical Insurance
Guaya’b cooperative members voted to finance medical insurance for members and their families, using their Fairtrade premiums.
Low Interest Micro Loans
Guaya’b cooperative members are provided with low-interest loans that have allowed them to avoid unscrupulous lenders.
Income from Additional Crops
Guaya’b members have invested their premium funds into growing peanuts, fruit and peppers for sale in local markets.
Guaya’b coffee is also certified Bird Friendly by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC). For more information about bird-friendly coffee, visit the SMBC website
Cupping notes: Dulce de leche, blackberry, plum, white peach.
Photo captions: In the green shirt and hat is Feliciano Silvestre; the three men are Feliciano, his son Ignacio and Antonio Domingo, all co-op members; and in the striped pants, with InterAmerican’s Kayd Whalen, are producers and bee keepers Valentín Calmo, Marcelo Chalés and Jacobo Jerónimo.
