In 2014, an organized group of 100 Organic producers in Coban, Acatenango & Chimaltenango aligned to create ASPROGUATE (Asociación sostentible de productores de Guatemala). Nearby producers later joined the association, and in 2016 they opened central offices in San Martin, Jilotepeque. With a mission to manage social development among small read more
In Sumatra, Kokowagayo is a women-owned and women-managed coffee cooperative on the Aceh province. Kokowagayo has 567 farmer members from seven villages in the Bener Meriah districts. Kokowagayo is an abbreviation for Koperasi Kopi Wanita Gayo. The group has 18 women in leadership roles — a chairwoman and business manager, read more
In Peru, Central Cooperativas Agrarias Cafetaleras, or COCLA Ltda., is a second-degree cooperative, meaning it’s a larger representative of 21 smaller cooperatives. In total, it represents more than 3,500 coffee-farming families. COCLA was formed 53 years ago, on July 26, 1967, by a group of coffee farmers looking to secure read more
Colombia Sierra Nevada TAYRONACA Fairtrade Organic The Cesar department in Northern Colombia is a Spanish take on the Chimila indigenous word Chet-tzar or Zazare, meaning “calm water.” This is a reference to the Cesar River which extends through most of the department in this valley created by the Sierra Nevada de Santa read more
Masha Natural Organic and Rainforest Alliance–certified coffee comes from Masha Woreda Yeppo Village, a coffee farm owned by world-renown running champion Haile Gebrselassie. The land was a gift from the Ethiopian government, in thanks for his achievements representing Ethiopia. Among his accomplishments, Haile is a two-time Olympic champion, a four-time read more
In 1992, with help from organizers affiliated with the Catholic church, 359 coffee producers came together to form the Comunidades Indigenas de la Region de Simojovel de Allende, S.S.S. (CIRSA) association. Within a few years, CIRSA had earned Organic and Fairtrade certification. More recently, it was able to purchase land read more
Over the last two decades, Honduras transformed the quality of its coffees, and thus its reputation as a coffee origin, thanks to government incentives and the hard work of producers, exporters and farmer-support organizations. In 2011, Honduras overtook Guatemala to become the largest coffee producer in Central America, and today read more
Coffee has been grown in Peru since the 18th century, but in recent years, Peru has gained increasing recognition for its unique regional profiles, organic practices, and strong smallholder farming culture. The majority of coffee in Peru is grown by small-scale farmers—many of whom belong to cooperatives that focus on read more
Approximately 3,000 farming families are part of the Central Fronteriza del Norte de Cafetaleros (CENFROCAFE), a cooperative that offers members access to training, financing and agronomy advice aimed at increasing yields and quality—with the aim of increasing producers’ earnings. The cooperative also gives each member extraordinarily more power and market read more
In Ethiopia, the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (OCFCU) is a farmer-owned cooperative with members from across the Oromia Regional State, which accounts for 65 percent of the country’s total coffee-growing land. The OCFCU was established in 1999, with 34 small cooperative as members, to facilitate the direct export of read more
