Mexico Chiapas FTO

Fair Trade– and organic-certified coffees from Mexico are fairly common, as many smallholder producers have organized themselves into democratically run cooperatives due to the small average farm size (2–5 hectares) and long history with the Fair Trade movement. Legal obstacles have made it historically difficult for women coffee producers to own land and become card-holding cooperative members; as a result, our supplier has developed Women Coffee Producers projects with co-ed cooperatives from whom they buy. These WCP lots are purchased with a gender-equity premium on top of the usual base price, and that premium is paid directly to the women growers for use as they see fit.

This Mexico Chiapas FTO coffee has been sourced from the south of Mexico in the state of Chiapas from the Comon Yaj Noptic cooperative, which was founded in 1995 by a group of smallholder farmers from indigenous groups in the area. (Comon Yaj Noptic means "all of us think.") Today there are about 160 producer members. The producers here have the advantage of many ideal conditions, including good altitude, obviously a very lush environment, and high-quality coffee varieties like Typica, Bourbon, and Caturra. The grower members are passionate about quality and even though this region is not always thought of for exceptional lots, there is strong microlot potential from the groups pur supplier has been partnering with here. The area is very close to the border of Guatemala and that country's famous coffee region Huehuetenango: Some of the best of what we taste from those coffees is possible here as well. The organization earned its organic certificate in 2003 and its Fair Trade certification in 2009.

This lot is specifically from the women members of the cooperative with a premium being paid directly to them to contribute to gender equity in the region. 

Altitude:   1,000-1,800 masl

Cupping Notes:   Cocoa and papaya flavors with tart acidity and candy-like sweetness