Coffee "Café Feminista" (organic), 250g, ground

Coffee enjoyment for women power

When you think of Nicaragua, feminism may not be the first thing that springs to mind. That is precisely why our coffee is so important for the fight for equality and fair pay - in a country that, like all Latin American countries, has been patriarchal to date. Our Café Feminista is a so-called honey processed coffee. Its cultivation and special processing are completely under the direction of female coffee farmers who belong to the UCA Miraflor cooperatives. This means that they are also members of the cooperative in Germany and can have a say in important issues relating to Café Chavalo eG. For the producers, this means more say and self-determination.

The special feature of the “Honey” processing

A lot of water is usually used to process the harvested coffee cherries - a raw material that is in short supply, especially in countries in the Global South. In addition to this so-called wet processing, there are other methods of obtaining the coffee beans. One is "honey processing", which saves large amounts of water and also does not pollute the environment with washing water that is too rich in nutrients.

Honey plays no role in the process - but sweetness does. The special taste of honey processed coffee results primarily from its processing: After carefully harvesting by hand, the producers in Miraflor mechanically remove the skins of the coffee cherries using a pulper without washing them. In this way - in contrast to wet processing - parts of the sticky, sweet pulp remain on the beans and give them their own fruity aromas during the subsequent drying process.

Depending on the technique and drying time, the beans differ in taste and color. Our Café Feminista is a red honey coffee.

Origin

In the northwest of Nicaragua, near the city of Estelí, there is a unique nature reserve with unparalleled biodiversity. Due to the different altitudes, there are three different climate zones in the approximately 250 km² area. This paradise for nature lovers is home to a cooperative association of the same name: the UCA Miraflor is an association of twelve smaller cooperatives that are committed to ecological and solidarity farming and sell their products through fair trade.

At an altitude of over 1,000 meters, around 200 small farmers cultivate organic Arabica coffee in mixed crops in the shade of other plants. In addition to environmental protection and an agricultural economy in harmony with nature, equal rights for women farmers is one of the most important issues at UCA Miraflor. Our Café Feminista, for example, comes from a very special project that is run exclusively by women. It enables them to be economically independent - and this not only strengthens their self-confidence, but also their role in society.

Café Chavalo stands for honest coffee enjoyment

We are a small cooperative in Leipzig that has been importing fair trade organic coffee from Nicaragua since 2017. We are driven by the vision of global trade that everyone involved can live from, that is based on a respectful relationship between trading partners and promotes sustainable, organic agriculture. We want to create real prospects in Nicaragua. To achieve this, we are prepared to break new ground.