GUATEMALA FTO DARIO CHAVEZ MAGNOLIA MIRAMAR ECOTACT

Coffee Background

Good supply chains deliver tasty coffee. This is certainly the case with a collection of micro-lots that just arrived courtesy of the Federación Comercializadora de Café Especial de Guatemala (FECCEG), an umbrella organization that helps producers with small farms gain access to the international market. Darío Marvin Chávez Velásquez produced one of these lovely micro-lots on his 9 acre farm near the village of Magnolia Miramar in the municipality of Colomba Costa Cuca. This is the first time Darío has seen his coffee featured as a micro-lot. He has worked up to this goal for the last 15 years through his membership in Cooperativa Integral de Ahorro y Crédito Café de Responsabilidad Limitada (COPECAFE), an association of 112 producers. COPECAFE has focused attention on training producers on the best organic practices to manage their farms. Darío has put his training in action, using 2 pounds of organic fertilizer on each coffee tree and spraying his farm with biofertilizers 6 times a year. Darío has his own micro-mill to process harvested cherries. First he floats the cherry in water to remove less dense and damaged beans. Then he depulps, ferments, washes and dries the coffee on raised beds to 11 percent moisture. At this stage, FECCEG steps in to support Darío with transportation, warehousing and cupping analysis, and later provides the preparation for export. FECCEG has worked hard to ensure coffee traceability so that Darío receives more income for improved quality. Increased earnings from coffee sales help Darío strengthen his family’s livelihood.