We couldn’t be prouder of our colleagues in Mexico at Exportadora de Café California (ECC), which is on a mission to make coffee a driving force in its national economy. “We believe in our country,” ECC CEO Osvaldo Ortega says in a video on the company’s home page, “and we’re betting on coffee.”
For nearly a decade, from the coffee rust crisis through COVID-19, ECC has worked closely with producers to improve cup quality, which leads to better prices, and ultimately better lives, for coffee families. ECC’s Por Mas Café program, now part of the NKG BLOOM initiative, is a major part of its work to engage producers across multiple regions and extend access to financing, services, training and information.
As ECC celebrates its 80-year anniversary in Mexico’s coffee value chain, and 27 years as part of Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, it has also turned its instinct for improvement inward.
“As part of ECC’s DNA, innovation has reached our workspace,” says Osvaldo. “We know that it’s necessary for people from different departments and levels to work together and generate inspiring ideas.”
Toward this goal, ECC created a new two-level space within its headquarters with three new areas: a lounge-style digital workspace where employees can comfortably collaborate; a gym area, since healthy routines also improve work performance, brain power and creativity; and lastly, a coffee bar, where Osvaldo says employees can “interact, see each other as one, and most importantly get inspired to imagine the future of their company.”
Specialty Coffee Division
ECC wants consumers around the world to know that when they drink a cup of coffee from Mexico, it’s the best-quality coffee available. Its latest pursuit of this goal is through the development of a Specialty Coffee Division that was seven years in the making. The team behind these coffees, which Osvaldo describes as “the result of years of labor from our coffee farmers, focused on achieving high coffee quality,” is young and excited — and behind some of our favorite new coffee bag designs!
Coffee bag designs by NKG exporter Exportadora de Café California (ECC) in Mexico.
All ECC specialty coffees are now part of NKG BLOOM Mexico (. InterAmerican is thrilled to bring these coffees to U.S. roasters, starting with NKG BLOOM Zogolica, a coffee from 20 women producers in the Zolgolica area of Veracruz, and soon also NKG BLOOM Tecolotl (the word for owl in Tzeltal, an indigenous language), which is an offering from Chiapas that’s quickly gaining fans around our cupping tables.
“ECC’s relentless work in support of its producers, its industry and its country is a truly boon for all of us. We’re proud and excited to bring these coffees to our customers, who through their purchases can claim a stake in the effort and both fully trace their coffees and understand their specific impacts through the NKG BLOOM Portal,” said Neil Barwick, of InterAmerican.
“We’re grateful and proud that ECC’s constant focus on innovation also makes InterAmerican more competitive and impactful. Once travel is safe again for all, we’re looking forward to visiting with them, especially around their cupping table.”
With raised coffee cups, we wish our colleagues at ECC the happiest of anniversaries. Gracias y saludos! •
