Coffee Cycle Roasting
Colombia Coocentral Mujeres BULK (Coffee Cycle Roasting)
Colombia Coocentral Mujeres BULK (Coffee Cycle Roasting)
Colombia Coocentral Mujeres
Roaster: Coffee Cycle Roasting Co. (Exclusive Roast)
Processing: Washed
Variety: Caturra, Castillo, Variedad Colombia
Region: Huila
Producer: Coocentral Womens' Cooperative
Tasting notes: Cocoa powder, Walnut, Caramel, Tangerine
This coffee from an all womens' cooperative in Huila, Colombia, has been one of our most highly anticipated lots all year. This year, we've worked with La Baia Importers to pre-book incredible coffees from producers all around the world. By pre-booking these coffees, we've insured both us and the suppliers (Coocentral cooperative, in this case) are able to plan their year out. This helps producers achieve a level of stability otherwise very challenging, and lets them set a price that they know will work for them as they plan the year ahead. This coffee stood out on our cupping table for its beautiful balance and elegant flavors. We're thrilled to present it to you and happy to have you read more about it below:
From La Baia Importers:
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COOCENTRAL (Central Coffee Growers Cooperative), a non profit and socially driven organization. The cooperative represents over 3,000 coffee growers in the center of Huila, specifically from the following seven towns: Garzón, Gigante, Agrado, El Pital, Tarqui, Suaza and Guadalupe.
Not only did COOCENTRAL wow us with some of the tastiest community lots that we had the pleasure of tasting this season, this coffee is that much more special because it is a coffee that truly represents change, inclusion and opportunity by empowering women producers exclusively to be in control of their coffee and support their hard work.
We are constantly looking to identify ideas that promote women empowerment in coffee and this is a project that we can get behind. Coffee is deeply woven into the fabric and identity of Colombia. Women have always been a cornerstone for the agro-food industry in Colombia. In fact, according to the National Coffee Federation in (2021), women represent 31% of Colombian coffee producers. Thanks to this program it gives women coffee producers visibility and empowerment to have more influence and control over of their choices with what they choose to do with their coffee all while getting compensated fairly.
how does the chain of custody for coffee move and operate within the women's cooperative?
Among Coocentral’s specialty coffee programs, the cooperative has developed the women coffee growers program, to which currently supports more than 600 women. At their farms, the women look after their own farms, harvest their own coffee and carry out post-harvesting processes. In order to do so, they count on their own infrastructure and tools needed to pick, depulp, ferment, wash, dry and store parchment coffee. Once parchment coffee (carga) is dry, it is ready to be sold to the cooperative.
do the independent women producers handle processing of their own coffee up to parchment or do they sell whole cherries to coocentral and coocentral handles all milling/post harvest processing/drying up to export?
Once parchment is dry, it is ready to be sold to the cooperative. Women go to the nearest cooperative purchasing point to deliver their coffee, if quality meets the moisture and cup profile requirements, they gain access to a differentiated premium price that is over the local market price which directly enhances the price paid for their coffee. Thus, not only does the progam have a direct impact on their income and their quality of life, but also the women have the opportunity to improve and maintain infrastructure of their farms and production. Once the coffee has been delivered at the cooperative, it is physically separated and transported to the milling and warehousing facilities. From this point forward, the cooperative is in charge of milling, storing, selling and delivering the coffee to clients around the globe.
Technical Information - Processing
Since the drying process is carried out at each individual farm, the drying times used for post harvest drying varies from 15 to 25 days on average and generally depends on the micro climates and drying infrastructure at each farm. Some farms may rely on sun patios to dry their coffees where others might utilize solar drying on raised beds.
improvement and impacting lives
The Women Coffee Growers Program started in 2017 and has two main goals: to coach women to strengthen their production management skills and to help empower them to have better control opportunities where they sell their coffee to get paid better.
To date, three phases of the program have been executed. Each phase covers the same subjects but encompasses a different group of women. On the one hand, lectures on issues such as productivity, quality, leadership and women empowerment are delivered, strengthening knowledge regarding farm management. On the other side, to improve drying infraestructure, the program supplied raised African drying beds to all the women that took part in the training. In addition, the women that took part in phase 1 received coffee roasters, and the women that took part in phase 2 had the opportunity to choose between a larger portfolio of fermentation tanks, quality kits, hoppers, among others.
Each phase lasted one year and it reached a total of 300 women. The results of the program are outstanding. During the first two phases, the production of specialty women coffee increased from 87,608 kg in 2018 to 278,011 kg in 2020. In addition, Coocentral guarantees direct trade for their coffee under a paid price premiums that would continually keep being transferred to the women at the time of delivery. Due to price premiums, the women that belong to the program have received for their coffee up to 20% more than the average market price for their coffees.
Lastly, not only the does program highlight women coffee growers and their importance locally, but it also has given them visibility around the world due to the clients that purchase and carry their coffee globally.
REGIONAL INFORMATION
Huila, one of the most vital coffee growing regions in Colombia due to its economy, agricultural and commercial production of coffee. Huila is located in the southern portion of the country where the Central and Eastern ranges of the Andes mountains converge. Coffee being the product with the highest national production, especially of arabica that is exported to The United States, Russia, Japan and various countries around Europe. Huila’s coffee farms are predominately smallholder owned and over the past ten years have made consorted efforts to produce specialty coffee that reveals the full character of the region’s terroir. Selective manual harvesting, attentive processing, and careful post-harvest sorting all contribute to increasing recognition of the region.
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YOUR ORDER WILL BE ROASTED FRESH ON THE MONDAY FOLLOWING YOUR ORDER! COFFEES ARE SHIPPED ASAP AFTER ROASTING TO ENSURE YOU RECEIVE THE FRESHEST POSSIBLE ROAST.
This is a Kilo (2.2lb) or 5lb BULK bag of coffee. We recommend smaller bags for consumption at home to preserve freshness.
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