San Francisco Blend

Country: Mexico, Guatemala
Producer: Ek Balam Productores del Jaguar, Organic Los Volcanes
Altitude: 950-1650 Meters
Cultivar: Various
Process: Fully washed
Certification: Organic & Non-GMO

Ek-Balam - Ek-Balam Productores del Jaguar S.C. DE R. L. de C.V. (Ek-Balam) was formed in 2019 with 399 members. The vast majority of producers have indigenous roots and continue to speak a native language. Nearly one third of these growers are women who depend on income from coffee to support their families. They cultivate coffee on farms that average just a few acres in size, small enough for each producer to process their own coffee with their own micro-mill. Ek-Balam provides crucial support to small producers. In particular, the association has helped producers gain access to credit and certifications. Investments for basic infrastructure needs, like road improvements, establishing local warehouses, and operating a dry-mill facility are all coordinated through Ek-Balam, which ensures traceability and quality control throughout the post-harvest process. Their collective efforts have established higher prices and more producer income to support best agricultural practices and improve livelihoods.

Organic Los Volcanes - Most look to western Guatemala for coffee, but there is something exciting to offer from the heart of the country. Organic Los Volcanes is sourced from several different organic certified cooperatives located in the less traveled department of Alta Verapaz, north of the city of Coban. The region has thousands of indigenous communities where coffee has been cultivated for generations on small farms that average 3 acres in size. Producers process their harvest with their own micro-mill, which allows for meticulous care in cherry selection, depulping, fermenting, and drying the coffee. They have also organized themselves into cooperatives to overcome the obstacles they face in a rugged and isolated region of Guatemala. The cooperatives provide centralized warehouses to store dried parchment until it is time to move the coffee across the country along rough roads to Guatemala City where the coffee is prepared for export. Through cooperatives, the producers have combined their efforts to gain technical assistance for managing their farms with the best organic practices and learned new strategies to protect their farms from the impact of climate change and focus on strategies to improve quality. Using materials, like coffee pulp, to make organic fertilizers has helped reduce the transportation costs associated with purchasing fertilizer from afar, and at the same time, creates an abundant source of fertilizer that ensures better yields and quality.