Honduras Farmgate Santa Elena Catracha Dulce Meloso Peaberry is a community blend of catuai selected from the 80 producers from the Catracha group. Each year we make at least one community blend to showcase the diversity of the Santa Elena profile and the consistency in processing among the group. This year we made a peaberry lot, which was possible because the mill where we prepare coffee for export, Villa Florida, has the capacity to sort coffee by screen size. Peaberries, a small round shaped bean formed from the maturation of one seed per cherry rather than the typical two seeds, consistently falls into the smallest screen, which allows for the separation. And of course the lot was passed through all the other sorting equipment like the electronic eye to remove discolored coffee, and hand sorted to remove anything that the machines could not catch Consistency in the community blend can be attributed to a harmony of farm management and processing strategies because each producer attends monthly workshops to learn farm management practices such as applying lime to control the pH of the soil, fertilizing with organic compost, and spraying organic fungicides to control levels of leaf rust. They have also learned to process coffee using the same procedures at each individual micro-mill to depulp, ferment and dry coffee before delivering it to Catracha Coffee. These actions have improved the health of the farm and the quality of coffee production. Each producer is paid a premium based on the quality of their coffee. This extra income increases each producer’s capacity to reinvest in their farm, and overtime, increases their standard of living. Social impact Mayra Orellana-Powell founded Catracha Coffee Company to connect her coffee growing community with roasters. Ten years later, Catracha Coffee has gained momentum with more than 80 producers and 20 roasters working together on sustainable relationships and a profit sharing model, which has consistently paid at least $2.09 per pound directly to producers. This extra income helps increase each producer’s capacity to reinvest in their farm, and overtime, increase their standard of living. The sale of Catracha Coffee also creates income for a non-profit called Catracha Community (a 501(1)(c)(3) nonprofit), which invests in income diversification opportunities without taking resources from a farmer’s bottomline. Catracha Community hosts workshops for women and youth to learn craft making skills. Like the coffee, the focus is on quality. With the help of talented volunteers, the group has been able to make many beautiful things and sell them through our network of coffee friends. They even have a name for the group, Catracha Colectivo. Catracha Community has also established an art residence and studio in Santa Elena to host artists from Honduras and around the world. These artists have been running art classes two days a week. Every week more than 30 children come and learn art. Art is now popping up everywhere around Santa Elena. There are more than 30 murals along the streets of Santa Elena, in peoples homes, and at many schools. Catracha Community also funds gardening projects throughout Santa Elena. David Benitez, a Catracha Coffee producer, agronomist and school teacher, provides technical advice to families starting gardens. David is also growing seedlings and distributing to families, which has helped make seed more productive and easier for families to succeed at producing vegetables. Funds from Catracha Community also support a local tree nursery, which produces 50,000 trees each year for Santa Elena’s communities and individuals asking for trees. Funds are also used in coordination with students at the agroforestry high school in Santa Elena to give technical support for tree planting and follow- up cleaning and maintenance.
