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. Orfa Constanza Cobon produced one of these lovely micro-lots on her 4-acre farm called El Limar near the village of Santo Domingo in the municipality of La Libertad. This is the first time Orfa has seen her coffee featured as a micro-lot. She has worked up to this goal through her 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. Orfa has put her training in action making her own organic fertilizer. Orfa has her own micro-mill where she depulps, ferments, washes and dries the coffee on patios to 11 percent moisture. At this stage, FECCEG steps in to support Orfa with transportation, warehousing and cupping analysis, and later provides the preparation for export. FECCEG has worked hard to ensure coffee traceability so that Orfa receives more income for improved quality. Increased earnings from coffee sales help Orfa strengthen her family’s livelihood.
