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Cerro de Cintepec
Members – 351 total organic, 150 transitional
Location – Sierra de las Tuxtlas mountains near Catemaco, Veracruz
Elevation – 800 to 1000 meters
Established - 1984
Coffee Varieties – Arabica: Bourbon, Criollo, and Costa Rica Oro Azteca
Diversification – Peppers, avocado, citrus, guayaba, peanuts.
Typical farm size - 1-2 hectares
Tucked away in the Tuxtlas mountains of Veracruz, Mexico lies Cerro de Cintepec Cooperative. “Cintepec Hill” is located near the Laguna de Catemaco, a beautifully picturesque lake surrounded by volcanoes and a neotropical rainforest similar to that found in the Amazon. About half of the members in Cerro de Cintepec Cooperative are native Popoluca. Trees such as avocado, hazelnut, orange, banana and many others provided not only shade, but also a diversified food supply and income for farmers organized under this cooperative. This organization is characterized by their diversified production, from cattle (for meat and milk), fruit production, black pepper, to their main focus of organic coffee production.
The cooperative was founded in 1984 when a group of producers in the community of Zapoapan de Cabañas began to organize, joining together coffee producers from twelve different communities throughout southern Veracruz. Their goal was to overcome the coyotes and the poor prices they were offering. Now 26 years later, members of Cerro de Cintepec are moving forward, thanks to their organization and access to better markets. In 2007, after several years of being unable to sell their fair trade and organic certified coffee to a secure buyer, a relationship was established with Cooperative Coffees. "It means so much to us to have you here," Don Santo told us with pride, "Mexico is a beautiful country, but the prices offered to producers are not very pretty. Your visit is a true testament of our work and organization to overcome the coyotes and find better prices, to find value in the work that we are doing, and making connections with buyers in foreign countries."
Members of Cerro de Cintepec were able to make this connection through their relationship with RedCafes (the National Network of Sustainable Coffee Producer Organizations). RedCafes is a secondary umbrella organization which operates out of Chocaman, Veracruz and serves recently established sustainable coffee ccooperatives throughout the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Puebla, and Veracruz. Today REDCAFES has some 1680 members from 85 communities in several different coffee growing regions. They offer organic production advice as well as technical assistance to better market coffee in the international export market and most recently in local, roasted markets. They have recently opened a beautiful, producer-owned coffee shop in the town of Ciudad Serdan, which serves as both an outlet for the roasted coffee and an additional source of employment.
Since the beginning, RedCafes has served as a window to development, an alternative option for all producer organizations that aspire to develop their skills, organizational growth, and increased production as well as income, but because of their low number of members, low volume, and null commercial structure have difficulty doing so alone. RedCafes was born in the middle of the coffee crisis when the coffee prices reached rock bottom. During this time, many members of Cerro de Cintepec (and other regions of Mexico) either left their lands and migrated north, or cut down their coffee farms and began planting corn. The collective of social organizations decided to strategize in order to confront the ups and downs of coffee prices, following organic and fair trade production lines. With prices on the rise again, producers today see more opportunities in growing coffee, through direct, positive relationships with buyers.
Location – Sierra de las Tuxtlas mountains near Catemaco, Veracruz
Elevation – 800 to 1000 meters
Established - 1984
Coffee Varieties – Arabica: Bourbon, Criollo, and Costa Rica Oro Azteca
Diversification – Peppers, avocado, citrus, guayaba, peanuts.
Typical farm size - 1-2 hectares
Tucked away in the Tuxtlas mountains of Veracruz, Mexico lies Cerro de Cintepec Cooperative. “Cintepec Hill” is located near the Laguna de Catemaco, a beautifully picturesque lake surrounded by volcanoes and a neotropical rainforest similar to that found in the Amazon. About half of the members in Cerro de Cintepec Cooperative are native Popoluca. Trees such as avocado, hazelnut, orange, banana and many others provided not only shade, but also a diversified food supply and income for farmers organized under this cooperative. This organization is characterized by their diversified production, from cattle (for meat and milk), fruit production, black pepper, to their main focus of organic coffee production.
The cooperative was founded in 1984 when a group of producers in the community of Zapoapan de Cabañas began to organize, joining together coffee producers from twelve different communities throughout southern Veracruz. Their goal was to overcome the coyotes and the poor prices they were offering. Now 26 years later, members of Cerro de Cintepec are moving forward, thanks to their organization and access to better markets. In 2007, after several years of being unable to sell their fair trade and organic certified coffee to a secure buyer, a relationship was established with Cooperative Coffees. "It means so much to us to have you here," Don Santo told us with pride, "Mexico is a beautiful country, but the prices offered to producers are not very pretty. Your visit is a true testament of our work and organization to overcome the coyotes and find better prices, to find value in the work that we are doing, and making connections with buyers in foreign countries."
Members of Cerro de Cintepec were able to make this connection through their relationship with RedCafes (the National Network of Sustainable Coffee Producer Organizations). RedCafes is a secondary umbrella organization which operates out of Chocaman, Veracruz and serves recently established sustainable coffee ccooperatives throughout the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Puebla, and Veracruz. Today REDCAFES has some 1680 members from 85 communities in several different coffee growing regions. They offer organic production advice as well as technical assistance to better market coffee in the international export market and most recently in local, roasted markets. They have recently opened a beautiful, producer-owned coffee shop in the town of Ciudad Serdan, which serves as both an outlet for the roasted coffee and an additional source of employment.
Since the beginning, RedCafes has served as a window to development, an alternative option for all producer organizations that aspire to develop their skills, organizational growth, and increased production as well as income, but because of their low number of members, low volume, and null commercial structure have difficulty doing so alone. RedCafes was born in the middle of the coffee crisis when the coffee prices reached rock bottom. During this time, many members of Cerro de Cintepec (and other regions of Mexico) either left their lands and migrated north, or cut down their coffee farms and began planting corn. The collective of social organizations decided to strategize in order to confront the ups and downs of coffee prices, following organic and fair trade production lines. With prices on the rise again, producers today see more opportunities in growing coffee, through direct, positive relationships with buyers.
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