FECCEG Mujeres Santo Domingo FW FTO

The Federación Comercializadora de Café Especial de Guatemala (FECCEG), a non-profit organization founded in 2006, aids small coffee producers grappling with market challenges, including access and price risks. Currently, FECCEG boasts 1,500 members, comprising 1,150 men and 350 women from 15 producer organizations, associations, and cooperatives. 

The establishment of the Santo Domingo cooperative, spearheaded by Orfa Constanza, marks a pivotal moment. Constanza, alongside local women, recognized the potential for enhancing farmer livelihoods through organic coffee production. While forming the cooperative presented formidable challenges—especially considering the novel idea of women managing farms and cooperatives, which defied prevailing social and cultural norms—over time, these women managed to gain legal ownership of their land. Despite the arduous journey toward achieving specialty coffee production, the resolute dedication of the La Libertad community has culminated in the production of outstanding lots for the global market.

Benefitting from a USAID project, the group also acquired commercial baking equipment, enabling them to establish a small bakery that has emerged as another vital source of income for the farmers.

These smallholder farmers are committed to organic production encompassing specialty coffees, honey, panela, and cocoa.

FECCEG's members are situated across the departments of Chimaltenango, Huehuetenango, Quiché, Sololá, San Marcos, and Quetzaltenango. These regions, characterized by mountainous and volcanic terrain, are renowned for their diverse microclimates that foster unique flavor profiles, rendering their high-quality coffees exceptional.

With FECCEG's support, Santo Domingo autonomously operates "biofabricas," organic fertilizer and fungicide plants crucial for enhancing soil and plant health and mitigating diseases like Roya. The biofabricas have proven remarkably successful, serving as an additional income source through the sale of their high-quality fertilizer. In addition to fertilizer sales, the women of Santo Domingo have embarked on diverse income diversification initiatives. 

FECCEG's commitment to quality begins with the meticulous collection of coffee cherries, ensuring they are harvested at their peak ripeness. Situated in the renowned volcanic regions known for their diverse microclimates, FECCEG's coffee benefits from this natural advantage. These conditions contribute to the development of distinctive flavor profiles that elevate their high-quality coffees to a truly exceptional level. 

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.