About this Coffee
The Asociación de Desarrollo Flor de Café (ASDEFLOR) is a tiny community with just 30 members, all of whom belong to the Mam Mayan indigenous community. Located in the township of Chanjón, in the department of Huehuetenango, the community grows lots of carefully selected coffee varieties: Caturra, Bourbon, Catuai, and Typica. Most producers process their coffee at the association owned wet mill, situated at 1700masl. The fermentation process is long and cold, taking about 2-3 days, where the coffee sits in large tanks covered in plastic to ensure the fermentation is homogenous and clean. The coffee parchment is then partially dried on raised beds and finished on patios.
Flor de Cafe is proof that small initiatives can sometimes have massive impacts. The members who make up ASDEFLOR used to be subsistence farmers reliant on corn and beans. Most income came from money sent back from people who had migrated to the US, though, since the Asociación have planted coffee, people have been able to stay at their farms and develop financially sustainable businesses. Years ago coffee prices were at dire lows, and ASDEFLOR found that the market rate was starting to drop below their own cost of production. Our import partners at Shared Source were able to create a direct channel for these producers to find buyers in the specialty coffee market rather than bulking all of their coffee.
Connecting with conscious buyers allows Shared Source to pay double the market rate to ASDEFLOR for their coffee. In an instant, a business that was at risk became financially viable. While the larger scale of coffee export can still be difficult for producers, there are ways to make large impacts through small channels — from ASDEFLOR through Shared Source to Ruby, to you.
We love this coffee’s rich, syrupy body with a variety of fruit over tones, and are thrilled to continue our partnership with the members of ASDEFLOR for another year.