Central and South America

The high mountains and humid rainforests of Central and South America provide the perfect climate for growing coffee. We source our beans from across the continent, from southern Mexico, through the central regions to Colombia, Peru and the high plateaus of Brazil.

Brazil

Today, most of the world’s coffee comes from Brazil; favored for its mild acidity, smoothness and bittersweet chocolate notes. We are among the country’s largest coffee exporters, with extensive integrated processing capabilities and expertise on the ground, to supply roasters around the world.

Colombia

Known for its rich, mild flavor, today experts consider Colombian coffee among the best in the world. Our on-the-ground presence in Colombia is supported by three coffee mills and a network of buying offices. We offer most coffee varieties and qualities, including regional specialties like Medellín, Huila, and Tolima.

Guatemala

Guatemala is the tenth largest coffee origin in the world, blessed with over 300 microclimates, rich volcanic soil and a long artisanal tradition of coffee production. ofi is one of the country’s top 4 exporters with an upstream buying model that allows us to directly source micro lots from individual farmers that we know personally, for a fully traceable, specialty cup.

Honduras

The coffee from the Central American coffee powerhouse Honduras, is known for its smooth, sweet flavor. Our agronomy and buying experts source from over 800 farmers and cooperatives to offer a full range of popular arabica varieties, as well as specialty coffees from areas like Marcala and San Marco.

Mexico

Coffee did not arrive in Mexico until the late 18th century, but today the country is one of the world’s largest producing origins, with a lot to offer. Distinctive and fruity profiles, a positive social and environmental impact, and a rich coffee-producing heritage. Our team of 38 agronomy and buying experts work with over 100 cooperatives and farmer groups to source mainstream and specialty coffees. Our origination capabilities have been enhanced by establishing two coffee mills supported by seven buying units.

Nicaragua

Nicaragua’s rich volcanic soils, tropical climate and mountainous regions provide the perfect ground for high-grade coffee. As a top three exporter, ofi brings Nicaragua’s certified and specialty arabicas to roasters worldwide, supporting over 2,000 farmers and their families who grow the crop on their small farms, amongst native and exotic fruit trees.

Pile of red coffee beans with sky background

Peru

For much of Peru’s coffee history, its beans have mostly been enjoyed locally. Today the country is one of the highest certified coffee distributors in the world, with many growers that were once limited by poor infrastructure, now getting the chance to let their coffees shine on the international market. ofi’s agronomy team work with over 5,000 producers on improved cultivation and processing techniques to raise yields and quality.

Read ofi news

Articles Apr 25, 2024

Assessing Natural Capital costs in coffee operations

How do you differentiate between the environmental impacts of organizations across different geographies, local conditions, products, local regulations etc.?

For several years, ofi has been working towards assessing the true value (cost or benefits) of some of our operations on the ground. Our latest case study on Natural Capital Valuation: Assessing Natural Capital costs in coffee operations, delves into year-on-year monetary impact of our select coffee growing operations in five origins.

Globally, an estimated 12.5 million to 25 million smallholder farmers depend on the coffee industry for their livelihoods, according to figures from Fairtrade¹ and the FAO². However, the majority of these farmers face significant challenges including limited access to formal agronomy training, inadequate resources, small farm sizes and insecure land tenure. These factors often hinder the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, which are crucial for preserving Natural Capital over the medium and long term. As a result, coffee production often imposes a cost on nature in the form of GHG emissions, degradation of soil structure and fertility, depletion of ground and surface water, and loss of natural ecosystem services critical to agricultural production.

To address these challenges, we employ Natural Capital valuation techniques, which leverage environmental economics to assign a monetary value (US$) to our impacts and dependencies, encompassing carbon emissions, water usage and ecosystem services. Quantifying Natural Capital in this way enables us to assess and mitigate risks while fostering investments that promote a positive impact on landscapes and ecosystem.

We evaluated twenty AtSource+ coffee farmer groups sourced from five different origins³ to assess their GHG emissions and water use related Natural Capital Costs (NCC). Reporting on the NCC is based on each metric tonne of product which makes the cost intensities very sensitive/ dependent on farm level yields. Thus, understanding the underlying yield dynamics is also crucial for interpreting these NCC footprints effectively.

Articles Apr 24, 2024

Helping farming communities meet their own health and nutrition needs

The combined expertise of our local sustainability teams with partners such as Funcafé, TechnoServe, Côte d’Ivoire's National Nutrition program, USAID (United States Agency for International Development), and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) delivers solutions to improve access to clean water, healthcare services and supplies, and nutritious food.

Initiatives range from using geo-location to identify and screen for infant malnutrition in farming communities in Côte d'Ivoire - where one in five children experience stunted growth and development - to fortifying key staples with vitamins and minerals in our processing facilities.

Articles Apr 23, 2024

Child labor monitoring and remediation

Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems (CLMRS) have become increasingly valuable in helping us understand and tailor our interventions. They help us identify children at risk of, or in a situation of child labour, so that we can engage with families to improve and enable school attendance through training and facilitation of necessary certificates for example.

Drawing on best practices by the Fair Labor Association and the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), CLMRS has been scaled up to cover all nine of our direct cocoa sourcing countries, coffee in Guatemala, cashew in Nigeria and 100% of our hazelnut sustainability programmes in Turkey. To date, our CLMRS systems covers over 260,000 farmer households.

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