[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”1″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n
There are lots of great reasons to develop and maintain long-term relationships with producers and producer associations, and our history with the Fair Trade\u2013 and organic-certified PRODECOOP in Nicaragua is an amazing example of the power of showing up every year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/CI_Prodecoop-16.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”2″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n PRODECOOP is a second-tier \u201cumbrella\u201d co-op that works with 38 small associations in three northerly departments considered the best for specialty coffees: Estel\u00ed, Nueva Segovia, and Madriz. The organization supports the smaller groups by offering marketing assistance, providing training, credit, and helping the individual cooperatives strengthen their leadership and infrastructures. The member co-ops deliver blended parchment coffees from their associates, and PRODECOOP typically cups, bulk blends, and sells those coffees under its own mark.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been working with them 6 or 7 years now,\u201d says green-coffee buyer Luis Arocha, who travels to Nicaragua every year to cup coffees with the team at PRODECOOP and secure fresh-crop full-container buys. \u201cOne day last year when I was visiting with them, they set up a cupping table, and at that table, there were some fantastic lots\u2014they were amazing! They said, \u2018Yes, these are the lots that we blend to send PRODECOOP samples to you.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/CI_Prodecoop-14.jpg” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/CI_Prodecoop-13.jpg” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”3″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n Luis asked if they could instead keep type samples from the individual co-ops separate to allow for better traceability, and we would pay a premium for the highest cupping group lots, \u201cand it\u2019s worked out quite well,\u201d he says. He credits Cafe Imports\u2019 long-term reliability as a buyer for the opportunity to have this degree of specificity, as well as the friendly professional relationship he\u2019s been able to nurture through his predictable visits: \u201cNo one asked them to do this before,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Last year, Luis identified coffees from two groups whose cups were a cut above the rest, with sugar-cane and caramel sweetness, tangy lemon acidity and lemongrass aroma, and a smooth, creamy mouthfeel. This year, Luis made the same request and was offered the opportunity to once more keep the individual co-ops\u2019 lots separate in order to identify which are producing the highest quality. Unsurprisingly, one of the co-ops from last year stood out for the second time, allowing us to buy more directly from them again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was the group 15 de Septiembre: It\u2019s good to see them again this year. Maybe in a couple of years from now, instead of buying just the full PRODECOOP container of the blends, we can focus on the individual cooperatives. We can pay a premium and we can know the producers who really produce those coffees.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/CI_Prodecoop-12.jpg” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/CI_Prodecoop-8.jpg” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/CI_Prodecoop-7.jpg” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”4″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n The other association is called Cooperativa Multifuncional Jos\u00e9 Alfredo Zeledon (JAZ), an association of just over 350 smallholder farmers, representing 12 local coffee-growing communities in the area. Both associations offer essential services to their members, including tools and resources for environmental preservation and organic production; financial assistance; agronomy advice and training; and strong community infrastructure, with an emphasis on gender equity, access to health care, and education.<\/span><\/p>\n We look forward to developing a stronger relationship with the member co-ops of PRODECOOP, and to introduce you to these wonderful coffees from our partners in Nicaragua.<\/span><\/p>\n Click below to browse our fresh-crop offerings from PRODECOOP, and contact your sales representative for samples and more information.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_cta button_text=”Browse Current Offerings” use_background_color=”off” background_color=”#7bb262″ border_style=”solid” custom_button=”on” button_url=”https:dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/offerings#\/keyword=prodecoop\/” header_font=”Changa One||||” button_text_color_hover=”#ffffff” button_text_color=”#000000″ button_border_color=”#000000″ button_bg_color_hover=”#911814″ button_border_color_hover=”#911814″ module_class=”CI-divi-button1″ custom_css_promo_button=”width: 100%;||min-height: 90px;||” saved_tabs=”all” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.7″ \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are lots of great reasons to develop and maintain long-term relationships with producers and producer associations, and our history with the Fair Trade\u2013 and organic-certified PRODECOOP in Nicaragua is an amazing example of the power of showing up every year.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":45159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nicaragua"],"site_id":"1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}