Honduras Organic Aprocomsa FTO

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Sourcing Details:

Here is one of those rare opportunities where all that is good about coffee intersect.  Simply a trifecta of: organic farm management practices; traceable to producers in the Marcala region, a protected designation of origin (DENOMINACION DE ORIGEN CAFE DE MARCALA); and a meticulous post-harvest standard of hand sorting cherry, cherry floating to remove less dense and damaged beans, proper fermentation, and long drying times.

Cooperative Activities:

It starts with a concept called Finca Humana (the Human Farm) at Asociación de Productores Orgánicos Café Organico Marcala, S.A. (APROCOMSA), where the wellbeing of humans is the core objective and educating more than 1,500 producer-members to successfully live in harmony with nature is everywhere.  At La Fortaleza, the APROCOMSA biodynamic demonstration farm, the focus of transferring knowledge takes place through week-long seminars called Pata de Chucho (pawprints left by a stray dog), which aptly reveals APROCOMSA’s dogged exploration for human productivity in harmony with nature.  The trailblazing ideas for using organic matter to productively cultivate high quality coffee is only a sliver of what APRCOMSA teaches about the power of nature through the Finca Humana philosophy.  APROCOMSA dedicates funding from the proceeds of coffee sales to run a cutting edge International school dedicated to filling children’s minds with possibility, and training them to be the future leaders of Finca Humana.

Processing Details:

This particular lot is a washed process carried out at APROCOMSA’s centralized wet-mill dedicated to process organic lots.  After farmers meticulously harvest ripe cherries and deliver them to APROCOMSA, the post harvest process begins by floating cherries to eliminate under ripe and damaged coffee.  The water is recycled several times to ensure conservation of water.  Next the cherries are depulped and the mucilage covered beans are fermented in tanks for 24 hours.  Then the coffee is washed mechanically with a demucilager designed to significantly reduce wastewater.  The washed coffee in parchment is dried on patios to 11 percent moisture and then stored until preparation for export.

Exporting Details:

APROCOMSA’s dry-mill facility is also located in Marcala where dried coffee in parchment is received, cupped and selected for export. Coffee is hulled and sorted by density and color in preparation for export.  APROCOMSA has a fully equipped cupping lab and several Q graders who check the quality prior to shipping.  APROCOMSA’s preparation ensures traceability and quality control throughout the post harvest process, which is a vital resource for establishing higher prices for producers.