Guatemala Asprocdegua Huehuetenango
$11.78
About
Our Guatemala Antigua Finca Santa Catalina is harmonious and heart-warming. Sweet and savory with a smooth mouthfeel, this bean brings out elegant notes of lemon, toffee, red grapes, and a hint of cocoa.
The Farm Story
At an elevation of 6,200 feet (1,890 meters) above sea level on the southern slopes of the Cuchumatanes Mountains, the country's highest mountains, the name Huehuetenango means "Place of the Ancients," and near the city are ruins of an ancient Maya center called Zaculeu.
Asociación de Productores de Café Diferenciados y Especiales de Guatemala (ASPROCDEGUA) is a producing organization with 664 contributing members; 394 have organic certification. The producing members own small farms, an average of 2 hectares each, on which they plant coffee and other crops for diversification, including bananas, citrus fruit like oranges and lemons, avocado, guava, and cassava. The organization offers its members access to technical assistance and routinely provides soil analysis, test farms, and social projects based on food security, education, and nutrition.
The organization offers its members access to technical assistance and routinely provides soil analysis, test farms, and social projects based on food security, education, and nutrition. The smallholders of ASPROCDEGUA are from several different municipalities within the area, including San Marcos, Cuilco, Colotenango, Santa Bárbara, San Sebastián Huehuetenango, Sipacapa, San Antonio Huisa, Cantinil Union, San Pedro Necta, Todos Santos, and Concepción Huista.
The women's association is not a formal sub–co-op, but the premium earned for their Women Coffee Producers lots goes toward organic fertilizer distribution to the women farmers, among other benefits. In 2020, the premium was used to purchase dairy cows for the women, which were distributed to augment their household nutrition and better access organic matter to make their organic compost.