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18 cooperatives and companies dedicated to sustainable and inclusive coffee in Honduras that are part of the Inclusive Coffee project - Promoting Sustainable Markets left a mark of distinction at the world’s most important specialty coffee tradeshow by presenting their initiatives in quality, inclusivity, sustainability, and technological applications in coffee.
US consumers have discovered women-powered coffee, and this coffee is here to stay. “We have never received so many signs of interest by the market to connect with women producers as we did during this tradeshow,” stated Delmy Regalado, coffee producer and General Manager of Beneficio San Marcos.
“The showroom of Women’s Coffee, hosted by the members of AMUCAFE (International Women in Coffe Alliance Honduras), gave us the opportunity to spend some valuable time with importers and roasters from the US, Canada, Poland, Italy, Australia, and Taiwan, among others. Producers like myself, who had our own coffees on the table, got to share about varieties, processes, the quality of coffee, as well as the challenges that we have overcome to reach the specialty coffee market,” expressed Miriam Elizabeth Pérez - representative of COMSA and a member of AMUCAFE.
In this juncture of special interest by the market in women’s coffee, the Honduran coffee institutions IHCAFE and CONACAFE, reaffirmed their commitment to the implementation of the Gender Policy for the Honduran Coffee Sector, alongside AMUCAFE (IWCA Honduras), and with the support of Solidaridad Network.
Donaldo González, General Manager of ARUCO, believes that with its participation in the Coffee Expo, Honduras has consolidated itself as a country of origin of premium coffee. “This event is the ideal showroom to present our specialty coffees to the world. We are not competing against each other; instead, we are introducing the vast variety of flavours and processes that you can find in Honduran coffee.”
Visitors to the stand and the Honduran coffee showrooms were delighted with the variety and intensity of Honduran flavours. The cupping rooms featured coffee from Honduran women (AMUCAFE), coffees from the Opalaca region, coffees of Western Honduras and of El Paraíso, as well as coffees produced in compliance with social and environmental standards.
Adelmo Guerra, producer of the Opalaca region and member of INOLHER, the only business in Honduras with a carbon-neutral certification, traveled to Boston. Through his coffee, he represents 30,000 families that are dedicated to producing high-quality coffee. “This experience has allowed me to learn more about coffee, to meet producers from places as far as Ethiopia and Indonesia, and taste different coffees. I have enjoyed seeing how roasters enjoy and respect our coffee.”
Jimmy Ramírez from CAFEPSA stated, “With Inclusive Coffee, our organisation is currently participating in processes of commercial skills development, as well as in initiatives to comply with social standards in coffee, led by IHCAFE and ILO. Being at the Coffee Expo permits us to validate the market trends and inspires our creativity and innovation to strengthen the relationship between coffee buyers and producers.”
The Inclusive Coffee project Café Inclusivo is a part of the Swisscontact Development Programme, which is partly co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development. The project is implemented by Swisscontact in Honduras with the support of its partners: CONACAFE, IHCAFE, AMUCAFE, The Cortés Chamber of Commerce and Industries in close coordination with the union of producers, AHPROCAFEH, ANACAFEH, La Central, and UNIOCOOP and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.