Collective producer of specialty coffees

We propose different coffee production processes from the traditional one suggested by Colombian coffee policies. With post-harvest processes "Without Water" the environmental impact on ecosystems due to wastewater dumping decreases almost 100%. As added value, we improved the result in Cup for the consumer, in Cash for the producer and in Less Environmental Impact for the Region. The Specialty Coffee Association describes it as: "a craft drink based on coffee, which is judged by the consumer, to bring together unique qualities, flavor and personality different from, and superior to, the sensation that ordinary coffee drinks can offer. The drink is based on beans that have been grown in a precisely defined area, and meet the highest standards of green coffee, roasting, storage and preparation." The sustainability of the 3,000 million cups consumed daily depends on the capacity of farmers to resist fluctuations in prices, global warming and declining rural populations.

We want to change Colombia's washed coffee technology in Calarcá City, which is promoted by the CENICAFE Coffee Research Center, which gives technical instructions to producers for the coffee bean process. This is a traditional policy known as Washed Coffee, is the one that coffee farmers have been recommended to implement since 1927: peel the grain, wash the coffee in tanks with water until it reduces to the maximum the mucilage of the coffee bean. coffee. The dumping of wastewater into the land and streams contaminates the ecosystem. Washed coffee is the traditional post-harvest recipe in Colombia and the use of water can reach 40 liters per kg of coffee, in view of this, CENICAFE has been promoting the use of a de-mucilaginator machine since 1990 to use 1 liter of water per kg of dry coffee. This demucilaging machine is responsible for removing up to 70% of mucilage from the grain and has a cost of approximately one thousand dollars. The complexity of this problem focuses on the care and conservation of the waters, the quality of the coffee and the cost benefit of not washing the coffee that the producer may perceive in the specialty coffee market.

Our theory of change is to implement post-harvest processes to coffee that are framed in the objectives proposed by the Specialty Coffee Association SCA in terms of protocols and quality standards. Furthermore, the UN Millennium Goals first is to Eradicate Extreme Poverty, the sixth to Guarantee Clean Water and the Environment and the twelfth to Responsible Production.

The post-harvest process that can be implemented has already been used for many years in other countries of Africa and Central America, known as natural and pulped to the natural "Honey". These processes use less water as in the case of Natural Coffee. This last process whose origin is African and if it is well elaborated, its notes in the cup are surprising and that is why it always takes the awards in official championships.

The local market has approximately 300 brands of origin coffee according to the Quindío Chamber of Commerce, that is, from the same farm or region of a total of five thousand producers, of which 70% are small (less than 5 hectares ). The global specialty coffee market is made up of a variety of processes from harvest to cup. These processes are new in Colombia because producers are used to traditional washed coffees that are approximately 90% of the offer in the current market.

For producers who want to deepen their knowledge with labor, commercial, productive and / or cultural projections, we offer technological training in "Natural and Pulped Natural Coffee"

The creation of the Company is for the administration of the supply chain for specialty coffees in Calarcá. Initially 1 pilot at Finca El Refugio with a commercial partner in France who buys coffee crops for distribution in different markets and niches segmented with our Organizational Marketing Strategy. The main activity is the management of specialty coffees to obtain a triple result:

(Economic Impact) 

(Social Impact) 

(Environmental Impact) 

attract young people who live in the rural sector, on coffee farms and demonstrate how coffee and agricultural work can be profitable.