Almost ten years ago, Carlos and his brothers Otoniel, Ronald und Antonio launched a very successful coffee project. They founded the Kolping Family “Nuevo Amanecer con las Familias“, and ventured a new start: Supported by Kolping they bought 8 hectares of land at the altitude of 1,500 metres, reclaimed the land, bought coffee plants and planted them. The Kolping Society also helped with training courses providing knowledge how to produce high-quality and organic highland coffee.
In the meantime, many coffee farmers have joined the Kolping Family and can live well from their yields. They receive training on a regular basis about topics like preparation of soil, quality of seeds, fertilization, techniques, financing. and marketing. Their children do no longer have to help with the harvest, but they can go to school instead.
Due to the newly acquired skills about coffee production and processing has the coffee cooperative now a united position towards the intermediaries and can demand significantly higher prices. This also has the advantage of benefitting from a financial security through pre-funding already before the harvest.