Honduras Marcala Raos Honey Organic

Founded in 1997, Cooperativa Regional de Agricultores Orgánicos de la Sierra (RAOS), was the first cooperative of small and medium organic coffee producers in Honduras. RAOS has 270 members, many of them pioneers in the organic movement with decades of experience cultivating coffee. Others are from a new generation of producers who grew up on their parents’ organic farms. Running organic farms is in their blood but not without adding their own new ideas. Many of these producers have built new ecologically run micro-mills with a demucilager, which uses very little water and controls the amount of mucilage that remains on the coffee bean after depulping without fermenting or washing the coffee. RAOS has two larger collective wet-mills where 80 percent of its members deliver cherry. The wet-mills use the same demucilager technology to run ecologically. RAOS has also invested significantly to improve its drymill installation. In addition to new warehouse space and more mechanical dryers, the facility has 2 new electronic eyes running in series to color sort green coffee. RAOS also has a cupping lab and certified Q grader who cups every lot to ensure quality. The Marcala region where RAOS operates has a protected designation of origin (DENOMINACION DE ORIGEN CAFE DE MARCALA) to preserve the renowned reputation of the Marcala profile.