La Costa is where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sierra Madre de Sur Mountain Range. Hot days and cool nights leave a heavy layer of dew which, with the ocean mist, makes ideal what would otherwise be an arid region for growing coffee. Here coffee is grown within pine forests and alongside Ash, Orange, Cuajinicuil, Ocotal and banana trees – but rarely, if ever, with any fertilizer or herbicide. It’s simply not the culture of the area, which prizes organic methods on primarily smallholder farms (800 -1000 trees). In this context it’s common to ferment for 1-2 days in wood or stone tanks, then set out to dry for 15+ days often under shade on rooftops. These practices can produce good coffee, but more controlled fermentation and drying can only come when there is training, equipment and incentive to invest in the next level of production. The group to do this here is called Terra Coffeas Mexico.
Terra Coffeas Mexico is a new (2022) collaboration to bring 80 years of operational expertise from the mill to export – in the form of long-time family-business Galguera Gomez – together with fresh perspectives from a young, CQI-calibrated team of on-the-ground mobilizers – led by the passionate Frida Mendoza. Their team includes engineers, agronomists, biologists, chemists, cuppers, artists and, of course, coffee lovers, all together for the common goal of agroecológico – the intentional purposing of international standards for quality, productivity and traceability, towards the advancement of local cultural practices, environmental resources, and economic outcomes.
This group is on the ground, investing their time and advancing producers consultancy services, well before the harvest begins. They have a narrow focus that allows them to truly partner with producers, reviewing farm, processing and export processes as a peer. While visiting the farms, Terra Coffeas staff also look to the household. They work with producers to fill out a customized family work plan that recognizes roles related to harvest and processing, and offer to pay an additional premium for women-produced coffees. And this is such a coffee, where women producers received an addition .15 – .20 USD / KG premium (2022).