In 2011, Café Imports green buyer Piero Cristiani was sourcing in Mexico with our producer partners at CESMACH and saw that there were a considerable number of women producers dropping coffee off for processing. On the heels of our women’s producer program in Guatemala with CODECH, Piero presented the program to CESMACH, wherein coffee from independent women producers are kept separate. A premium 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 year’s harvest marks the fourth year of the CESMACH Women’s Producer program. The quality only continues to increase as the program grows in reputation, and more producers from the surrounding communities of Sierra Madre are getting involved. The premium is paid directly to the women’s producer program, and they decide by committee on how to invest it. Last year’s premium went to building vegetable gardens. Silvia Roblero, interviewed by Piero in the video above, helps manage the women producers at CESMACH and has hopes to start investing the premium into women’s health programs, as the production volume continues to grow.
The CESMACH women produced two containers of coffee this year, and they are currently in our U.S. offerings. Next year, the CESMACH women producers are aiming to increase production to four containers.
Click Here for the CESMACH Women Producer offering and Beanology.
Read more about Piero Cristiani here.