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Country: Mexico

Region: Chiapas

Farm: Women CESMACH Cooperative

Variety: Bourbon, Typica, Mundo Novo

Altitude: 1000-1800 MASL

Proc. Method: Washed

Tastes Like: Caramel Pecans, Orange Torrone, Cooked Fruit

Goes Best With: Mother Earth, Arboretums, Morning Dew, Nature Trails

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In 2005, a group of six women members of the CESMACH co-op, all of whom managed and worked their own farms, banded together in an effort to integrate more of the co-op’s women members into educational workshops about coffee cultivation, and to highlight the contributions these women were making to the management and labor on their family farms while their husbands, many of which had emigrated to the U.S.A., held the title of CESMACH “member” on paper. They realized that in order to create more equity among the group and to empower these women in farm-leadership roles, this practice had to change.

By 2006, the grassroots group had grown to 23 women who had begun to formalize their memberships with CESMACH, becoming more involved in the cooperative and selling their coffee as “Café Feminino,” a mark indicating that it was produced by women smallholders.

In 2011, Café Imports green buyer Piero Cristiani was sourcing coffees in Mexico through our producer partners at CESMACH and saw that there were a considerable number of women producers dropping off coffee for processing. On the heels of the success of our Women Producer program coffee with CODECH in Guatemala, Piero presented the program to CESMACH, proposing that coffee from individual women producers are kept separate. The creation of the women’s lot incorporates a price premium, which is paid for those coffees in an effort to support these women who, more often than not, are single parents providing for their families.

This program was initiated, and coffees contributed by the women producers of CESMACH was kept separate for the 2012 harvest. The CESMACH Women Producer offerings comprises hand-picked and sorted coffees grown on farms that average 4 hectares or less. There are 32 communities represented by these coffees, from the municipalities of Ángel Albino Corzo, La Concordia, Montecristo de Guerrero, and Siltepec.

The 2014 premium went toward the construction of vegetable gardens. Recently, Silvia Roblero, who helps manage the women producers at CESMACH, said she hopes to start investing the premium into women's health programs, as the production volume continues to grow. Because of the high prevalence of cervical cancer in the community, a health initiative became a focus among the group to prevent and combat the disease. The women behind Cafe Feminino wanted to take care of mothers, recognizing that they hold the families together. The women, in partnership with Grounds For Health, were ultimately able to provide examinations for over 500 women.

Today, the co-op boasts 224 women members: Some are widows, some are private landowners themselves, and some have partners and husbands that have emigrated for other work opportunities. As representation of the women in co-op, one women producer is on CESMACH’s board of directors. This is a massive step toward increased empowerment for women, especially in Mexico — a state with traditionally machista culture. The CESMACH Women Producers are not just looking to produce just any coffee grown by women, they also adhere to CESMACH’s quality standards and are pushing for that perfect cup.

The story to tell isn’t only one of women rising up together to improve their lives and the lives of others; it is also a story of passion and love. These women have been working with coffee for most of their lives. They understand its viability, the need for focused labor, and the importance of management in terms of both time and money.

CESMACH has nearly 500 active members and has been managed by Sixto Bonilla for the duration of our relationship so far. Sixto is very quality-focused and driven to empower his cooperative community with the tools and resources to produce better quality. We have collaborated with Sixto on several projects, and look forward to working closely with him in the future as well.

The farms of both CESMACH and the FTV are located in the buffer zone of El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, which is in the highlands of the Sierra Madre. it is one of the most diverse forest reserve areas in the world and contains Mesoamerica's largest cloud forest, as well as a protected natural environment for thousands of plant and animal species. All of the coffee produced here is shade-grown. 

For more information check out Cafe Imports Mexico page.