About This Coffee
CAFICO is a coffee farmer cooperative based in Corquín, Copán, in western Honduras. Established to improve access to differentiated markets for Honduras’ coffee producers, CAFICO was formed to market certified coffees with sustainability initiatives more effectively. Today, the cooperative is made up of 350 dedicated farmer members, all committed to producing 100% certified, sustainably grown coffees that create long-term value for both producers and the environment.
Beyond coffee production, CAFICO actively invests in initiatives that enhance producer livelihoods and promote environmental conservation. They also champion gender equality throughout the supply chain, ensuring inclusivity from farm-level production to strategic marketing.
CAFICO’s commitment to sustainability extends beyond coffee. They support neighborhood churches and the local mother-child healthcare center, fostering community well-being. To protect the environment, they distribute water filters, improving access to clean water for local families. Through these efforts, CAFICO strengthens livelihoods, promotes sustainability, and enhances the resilience of coffee-growing communities.
This coffee is also Regenerative Organic Certified, ensuring that biodiversity and soil health are maintained throughout production processes.
Cultivation
CAFICO's team provides personalized technical assistance to farmers, with one technician assigned to every 50 producers. These technicians conduct training sessions and personalized visits to ensure compliance with good agricultural practices and continuous improvement on farms. This approach enhances productivity and guarantees adherence to certification requirements and international standards.
They began working toward Regenerative Organic (ROC) certification in 2021 and, thanks to years of continuous improvement with various quality standards, met the certification requirements that same year. In 2022, they achieved ROC certification at the Silver level. Since then, they have expanded their commercialization efforts, starting with the sale of one lot and now reaching approximately 15 lots in this harvest.
In addition, CAFICO leads initiatives focused on reforestation, the regeneration of secondary forests, and the establishment of agroforestry farms.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
CAFICO has always been at the forefront of new technologies for processing raw materials, with the necessary infrastructure and equipment to maintain product quality and traceability. They have both a wet mill and a dry mill for coffee processing.
Currently, CAFICO operates a state-of-the-art processing plant, allowing them to guarantee the traceability and quality of their raw materials for their clients.
Sustainable Harvest
Sustainable Harvest® is a specialty coffee trader focusing primarily on bringing coffees to market that are sourced from smallholder farmer cooperatives in the supply chain such as indigenous communities, women groups and the next generation of coffee farmers.
Their sourcing model is built on transparency, traceability and direct relationships between quality-minded coffee roasters and best-in-class coffee producers. Sustainable Harvest® has an on-site presence at origin with staff in Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Peru. Each office coordinates their supply including quality management, supplier relationships, source development, logistics, training and capacity building.
Coffee in Honduras
Honduras is a small yet mighty coffee producer. The country boasts the largest per capita coffee production in the world. Beginning in 2017, Honduras began placing in third place for Arabica production volume globally. For this slot, they compete with Ethiopia—a country 10 times larger than Honduras. The two countries trade between third and fourth place annually, but the achievement is impressive, nonetheless.
Honduras has everything it needs to become a premier specialty coffee producer. The country has the right growing conditions, abundant fertile soils and soaring altitudes (nearly all farms are at more than 1,000 meters above sea level), plus a variety of microclimates.
Beginning in the early 2000s the industry began to focus on quality. Improved infrastructure (better mechanical dryers, centralized wet mills, an increasing number of solar dryers), quality control/assurance trainings (separating lots by qualities, cupping schools, etc.), the rise of specialty-focused exporters, increased volumes of certified coffees and the strengthening cooperative movement all have worked in tandem to make Honduran coffee ‘one to watch’.
It is only in more recent years that coffee production in Honduras has reached specialty levels comparable to other Central American countries, but specialty roasters are responding with enthusiasm. In 2017, a lot in the Cup of Excellence garnered the highest price ever paid for a Cup of Excellence coffee in any country: $124.50 per pound (approximately $56.50 per kg).
Above all, while Honduras increasingly offers high end microlots, what the country arguably represents overall is exceptional value. Quality has improved massively over the last 15 years, and in addition to unique specialty lots, the country offers very solid, clean blenders at very attractive prices.