Guatemala

Guatemala is an incredibly diverse country with 47 volcanos that cover the mountainous landscape and two dozen indigenous languages still spoken today. The coffee is no different. There is a profile for everyone in Guatemala. The large range of altitudes and microclimates provide many ideal yet different growing conditions for Arabica coffee.

 

OFI Guatemala began in 2011 starting operations in Huehuetenango. Since then, we have grown to be one of the largest exporters in the country with a pan Guatemala reach and presence. We have 7 Farmer Centers placed at the doorstep of smallholders, and hence are uniquely positioned to support farmers throughout the crop cycle. Our proximity gives us both the chance to know who grows the coffee and provides the chance to offer region and farmer traceable lots. 

 

The communication and engagement with the many smallholders is year round. We have one some of the largest certification supply chains in the country for Rainforest Alliance Coffee. In the last couple years, we have committed to long term Sustainability Projects with a diverse group of partners to provide durable solutions to the some of the challenges the farmers face. Some of those partnerships have supported Coffee Camps (AtS video link to Coffee Camps). Other partnerships are dedicated to a three year long training program to enable smallholders to treat their farm like a business while improving quality and production.

 

Once that coffee comes to market we have some incredible tools we provide to the farmers to increase their market access and reward better quality with better prices. This economic opportunity is unique in a country where many intermediaries don’t pay for quality or provide transparency. When the coffees are very special, they can be sold as one of our two Specialty coffee brands: Jabiru (Video link please) or Blue Ayarza (video link please). This year we will be launching Café Delas Guatemala, a very special coffee from smallholder women farmers. The project is dedicated to improving the quality of their coffee through education and on-farm trainings. 

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Press Release Oct 7, 2024
ofi shortlisted in trio of sustainability awards for pioneering social impact initiatives

On International Coffee Day, the World Coffee Innovation Awards prized ofi's efforts to address child labor risks in major coffee-growing origins with its ‘Coffee Kindergartens’ initiative winning the ‘Best Sustainability Initiative’ category.

 

The Kindergartens are set up by ofi’s local coffee teams each year, supported by its specialty coffee business Covoya, in areas identified as high-risk through community surveys, part of its Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS). They offer a safe space for children to play and learn during the school holidays while their parents harvest coffee on the farms.

 

The success of the first Coffee Kindergarten in Guatemala, run in partnership with NGO Funcafé in 2020, attracted support from donors and customers, allowing ofi to expand the initiative to set up a further 22 Kindergartens last year in Guatemala and two in Honduras and Nicaragua with local NGO Educo.

 

On the same day, the Reuters Sustainability Awards shortlisted ofi in the Business Transformation category for pioneering work in natural capital accounting. ofi was one of the first companies in the world to start reporting the impact of its sustainability efforts in dollars and cents through its Integrated Impact Statement (IIS) and today, is applying multi-capital accounting to delve into the year-on-year monetary impact of selected coffee and cocoa programs.

 

ofi was also shortlisted in the Social Impact category for its first social capital impact valuation which assessed the value of customized support delivered to approximately1,000 coffee farmers as part of a living income project in Honduras with partner ALDI SOUTH Group. Analysis for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 crop years revealed a Social Return on Investment (SROI) of eight dollars for every dollar invested.

 

Roel Van Poppel, Chief Sustainability Officer at ofi said: "These achievements reflect our ongoing efforts to double down on the topics that matter most to our customers and the communities where we operate, and where we can make the greatest impact.

 

“We are able to do this because of the expertise and relationships we’ve grown in the heart of farming communities. And we’re choosing to achieve a lot more under our ‘Choices for Change’ sustainability strategy with 2030 targets to raise 200,000 ofi farmer households to a living income and remediate 100% of identified human rights cases, which our plans for 50 new Coffee Kindergartens will contribute to. We are inviting our customers and other partners across the supply chains to join these projects so we can collectively drive positive change.”

 

#bethechange

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