Women in Coffee in Huehuetenango | Promoting Equality in the Coffee Industry in Guatemala
While we still have a long way to go to truly achieve gender equality in the coffee industry, it’s certainly worth highlighting where we see advancement—from the women coffee growers who are challenging the status quo to the administrations who are taking bold steps to break biases within their organizational structures. These examples serve as immense inspiration for what De La Gente, our partner cooperatives, and the entire coffee industry can achieve to ensure there are more women in coffee—from cultivation to processing to serving to negotiating.
Antigua Coffee Growing Region | the Land of Shade Grown, Premium Coffee
Antigua, Guatemala is considered to produce some of the best coffee in Guatemala that is internationally recognized for its outstanding quality and flavor. Rainy and dry seasons are well-defined, allowing for gradual and uniform maturity of some of the best arabica, shade grown coffee beans that give way to a specialty coffee that is “elegant and well balanced with a rich aroma and very sweet taste.”
2022 highlights at our partner cooperatives
2022 was quite a year, and here are the highlights! The Union inaugurated new roasting and hosting facilities, La Familia Collective opened the first specialty coffee shop in San Miguel Escobar, and a faculty-led trip from the University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire helped Ija’tz Cooperative build a new warehouse for their machinery.
How our partner cooperatives are celebrating the holidays
The spirit of the holidays can be felt throughout the community of San Miguel Escobar as we eagerly await celebrations, customs, and coming together. In preparation of the holidays, we asked second generation coffee producers in San Miguel Escobar what they look forward to the most this time of year.
Join us for another year of cultivating opportunity
We invite you to join us for another year of empowering coffee producers among our eight partner cooperatives.
Julia's entrepreneurship goes beyond coffee
Julia is one of the three women members of Young Entrepreneurs of San Miguel Escobar. As the daughter of some of the community’s first coffee farmers, when she was younger she accompanied her parents to the fields to harvest the ripened cherries. She now cultivates and processes her own beans, which she exports with nine other Young Entrepreneur members, all of whom are second generation producers.
Siblings carry on tradition while envisioning change| Q&A with Claudia & Luis
Siblings Claudia and Luis, second generation coffee farmers, have both decided to carry on the family tradition of cultivating coffee while envisioning a more just and inclusive industry.
Eduardo’s drive to expand his coffee production
This year, when De La Gente began accepting loan requests from the Young Entrepreneurs, Eduardo applied for and was granted a $1,050 loan to invest in fertilizer and equipment for maintaining the land he already owns. “I have always said that having this space in this group is a privilege to be part of and I feel happy and content to be part of it.”
Guillermo combats the effects of climate change in his fields
Guillermo’s fields flowered just a few months ago, instilling hope for the next harvest. “It has been a major help receiving the loan to be able to buy fertilizer for my coffee and treat my fields,” he says. “My goal is to buy more land and produce more coffee so that my production continues to grow.”
A glimpse into the Young Entrepreneurs of San Miguel Escobar | Q&A with Alfonso
Alfonso, the leader of the Young Entrepreneurs of San Miguel Escobar shares how he was introduced to coffee, what draws him to this work, and his hopes for the group.