Beanology

The Olopa municipality, a small but mighty region within the Chiquimula Department in Guatemala's eastern highlands, is known for its production of stellar specialty coffees. Most of the producers in this region are members of the Chorti Maya indigenous community, and are multigenerational smallholder farmers who rely on coffee for about 90% of their annual household income. Due in part to the high-quality varieties grown in the region, as well as the unusual microclimate caused by Olopa's 1400-meter altitude and longstanding good farming practices, the Asociacion de Productores de Olopa (APOLO) co-operative has won multiple regional and national awards for its farmer-members' coffees.

Like Olopa itself, APOLO is a small but mighty group of local producers who joined forces in 2005 to promote the local coffee market and allow for farm and community development in the region. In 2008, APOLO leaders worked to establish wet mills throughout the region to allow producers to process and sell their coffee in parchment, rather than tendering cherry to local buyers or mills at a lower price.

This coffee represents the work of eight of the 32 APOLO producer-members, and represents a range of the varieties and microclimates that comprise these farms and this region.