Red Strand Coffee - Red De Mujeres - Guatemala - Whole Bean

Produce: Red De Mujeres Coop
Closest town: San Antonio Huista
Region: Huehuetenango
Altitude (MASL): 1600-1850
Harvest Season: November to January
Process: Washed Organic
Varieties: Pache, Bourbon, Caturra
Cup Profile: Red Apple, Plum, Milk Chocolate, Vanilla

The Red de Mujeres, or ‘network of women’, is a large group of female coffee producers covering five different areas of Huehuetenango. The group is made up of 830 women, but this particular lot comes from the San Antonio Huista area and is the product of 50 producers. Within the entire community of women there are 8 different Mayan languages spoken, highlighting the diversity of culture and language in this area of Guatemala.

All of these women have been either widowed during the 36 years of civil war in Guatemala, or were left when their husbands fled the country during the coffee crisis between 2001 and 2004. Since Huehuetenango was one of the areas hardest hit by the crisis, many people decided to give up altogether and find work elsewhere, leaving their families behind.

With the help of ACODIHUE, these female producers have been united to market their coffee and find international buyers. ACODIHUE has also supported them in training in organic farming methods, from producing and applying fertilizers, to rust and pest control methods. Falcon has started working with ACODIHUE to improve the quality of production even further, starting with Redde Mujeres.