Honduras is the biggest coffee producer in Central America and one of the top ten producers worldwide. In the western part of Honduras, we found this gem – COCAFELOL, or formally ‘’Cooperativa Cafetalera Ecológica "La Labor Ocotepeque" Ltda (COCAFELOL)’’. It was founded in 1995 by a group of 24 members in order to face the coffee crisis at that time by focusing on producing high-quality coffee.
Today the co-operative has more than 425 members, of which 81 are women, growing organic, arabica coffee beans in the biological reserve of El Guisayote. When visiting COCAFELOL, the first thing you will notice is their innovating and pioneering approach to organic coffee production. The co-operative produces its own organic fertilisers from the waste product of coffee cherries and bioethanol, a sustainable process. They value education and organise courses for their members and children in the area, including a cupping school for children and an organic agricultural school for coffee farmers. Union has been working with COCAFELOL since 2013.
