Sourcing Details Walter Argueta has a 4 acre farm called La Violin in the community of Aguasinga near where he lives with his wife and children. In prior years, Walter has sold his family's coffee in cherry to the local middleman. Over the last few years Walter has worked with Catracha Coffee. During this time he has improved his farm management practices using lime to control the pH of his soil, fertilizing with organic compost, and spraying organic fungicides to control levels of leaf rust. These actions have improved the health of his farm and the quality of his coffee production. Processing Details Walter has also learned to process his coffee using his own micro-mill so that he can depulp, ferment and dry his coffee before delivering it to Catracha Coffee. After harvesting, selected ripe cherries are macerated overnight and depulped the next day, then fermented in a cement tank for 24 hours, washed and placed on raised beds to dry over a 15 day period. 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 $2.00 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, which includes a seed bank and support from an agronomist who provides technical advice to families starting gardens. 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 highschool in Santa Elena to give technical support for tree planting and follow- up cleaning and maintenance.
