The Organization of Northern Coffee Cooperatives, or CECOCAFEN, is a second level cooperative made up of 11 grass roots cooperatives, which represent 1,900 small scale coffee farmers in the north of Nicaragua. We are a business and social organization that looks for better market conditions for our producers in order to improve their quality of life. Our mission is to produce high quality coffee, give the best service to our clients, and by helping our producers have a more dignified life, make "fair trade in the field" a reality.
Our small-scale coffee farmers produce coffee in harmony with the local ecology, in fact we use the shade of native and planted trees to create a cool micro-climates where the coffee bushes thrive. Close to one half of the farmers are certified organic, and hundreds more avoid the use of chemical inputs, practices that improve our coffee's flavor and quality. It is also important to mention that shade-grown coffee predominates among the small-scale farms of the north.
NORTHERN NICARAGUA The north of Nicaragua, made up of the departments of Matagalpa and Jinotega, is a traditional coffee-growing region dating back to the middle of the nineteenth century. Coffee from this area is internationally renowned for its high quality and balanced cup.
The geography of the north is favorable for coffee cultivation, especially in the Isabelia Mountain Range, located in the northeast toward Peñas Blancas, and in the Dariense Range (which includes the region of Yasica Sur), in the southeast near the mountains of Fila Grande, Pancasan, and El Apante. These areas possess rich volcanic soils, a humid tropical forest climate, and lush vegetation, including a great variety of lichens, moss, ferns, and orchids. Here, the rivers that supply potable water to farmers in the rural zones and to the urban population are born. The region is also included in the BOSAWAS Natural Reserve, the largest land preservation initiative in Central America.
CECOCAFEN'S COFFEE: THE FLAVOR OF QUALITY The quality of our coffee is created and maintained in all of the processes and checkpoints throughout the agro industrial chain. We own SOLCAFE, a state of the art dry mill, where all of the coffee we export is processed.
Among the principle influences on the quality of our coffee, we'd like to mention: We pick, warehouse, and mill coffee in batches by region of origin. This allows us to match up specific coffees with our client's needs. We use all of the appropriate technology and processes to create a high quality product. We constantly monitor all of the sub-processes to avoid any errors that cause a lower quality flavor in the final cup. We have a policy of transparency and documentation throughout the whole process. Our employees are constantly learning to keep on top of the latest guidelines and rules for certifications and producing quality. We provide reliable and timely information for our clients in order to help them market our coffee.
Currently we are in the process of receiving the ISO 9000/2002 certification. We are already certified by several organic agencies, allowing us to sell certified organic coffee around the world.
Our modern cupping laboratory has become an essential tool, allowing us to carry out a rigorous quality control program. We have several professional cuppers, as well as all the necessary equipment and infrastructure to meet the demands of our clients. Our quality control lab is also available for the use of our buyers, who can come and cup all of our coffees and discover for themselves the flavor of quality. It is important that each Fair Harvester schedule a visit to SolCafe Dry Mill, to see how coffee is processed and readied for export.
BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE All of our efforts to produce specialty coffee translate into a higher quality of life for our producer members. We use the concept of "fair trade in the field," to conceptualize the idea of quality exchange: high quality coffee in return for a higher quality of life.
We've been able to negotiate good prices in the sale of our member's coffees and because of this have been able to live our cooperative mission: a fair distribution of the benefits of the coffee trade. We've also developed direct actions to improve the quality of life of our members; we work with several local community development organizations in programs to improve housing, schools, and local roads.
EDUCATION We offer scholarships for children of our members, which offsets the costs associated with high school, technical or university studies. Participants in this program repay the scholarships through work in the cooperative, for example they could help with the organic certification process or teach people how to read in their community. These activities increase their commitment to the cooperative as well as strengthen the cooperatives and their communities.
WOMEN Involvement of the entire family is an integral part of the cooperative process; women cooperative members and wives of members play an essential role. We have a solidarity savings and loan program that more than 320 women participate in. They are organized into 15 autonomous groups around activities that diversity the family's income and compliment coffee production.
Currently we have pilot projects in Wiwili and Yasica Sur where the cooperatives participate in the integrated sustainable development of the communities using the idea of "fair trade in the field."
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION As an organization we promote certified organic agriculture and shade-grown coffee for all areas. We do this through the practices of: 1. Conserving water, good soil management, and agroforestry techniques. 2. Appropriate processing of solid and liquid wastes produced in the depulping and washing of the coffee, to avoid contamination of the soil and water sources. These byproducts are used to fertilize the coffee plants.
A combination of coffee trees with the existence of primary forest on the farms allow us to protect and provide habitat for different birds and animals, some of which are endangered species. These practices also sequester carbon and produce oxygen.
CRAFTSMANSHIP During the growing and harvesting of our coffee, in each annual cycle, the work is carried out by hand under strict quality control guidelines by artisans to guarantee specialty coffee to our clients.
The coffee is classified and separated during the harvest, transport, storage, and milling to ensure that the quality of a given coffee is properly identified and maintained.
Management of shade trees is essential to our agroecological production practices. Trees influence not only the quantity of coffee produced but also effect the flavor of the beans. Tree management is carried out as part of the farm plan depending on production, profitability and environmental conservation needs.
The harvesting of the coffee is a defining step in the end quality of the coffee. Only ripe, healthy, clean cherries are picked and they are processed the same day.
Before depulping, the coffee cherries are put in water to easily identify which ones are defective. After depulping, the machinery is washed to ensure that beans from the previous day will not mix with new ones. Then the coffee is fermented to remove the remainder of the fruit and carefully washed. The amount of water that is used in this wet milling process is about 175 liters of water for every 100 pounds of export ready coffee. This wastewater is filtered and used appropriately on the farm. The sun drying process is done on clean surfaces.
We know that management of the wet milling process is what guarantees good quality, high yields, and a clean environment. Our coffee is the product of a true artesanal process and our quality is what will guarantee us a place in the market well into the future.
