On the ground in Nicaragua

Mickey McLeod •  11 March 2011 •  Category: Travel Stories

I really enjoy trips to origin. No matter how tired I am before I leave, I get a surge of energy as I'm landing.

I love being hands on and learning about the challenges, issues and achievements first hand. For this trip it was great to bring a team of staff with me to share in the experience and also bring back personal examples of the work we are doing in Nicaragua.

Origin trips are all about relationships. We created our Fair to Farmer Direct program so that we could have a more meaningful relationship with co-ops and farmers. This is why it’s critical that either Banks Thomas our Director of Coffee or I visit co-ops and farmers in Central and South America, as well as Indonesia each and every year.

Before we created our Fair to Farmer Direct program I knew that by deepening our relationships with farmers, Salt Spring Coffee would eventually have a positive impact on the health and prosperity of the co-ops and farmers.

This year we’re committed to doing a better job of showing you the relationships we’ve formed through web posts, photo galleries and a series of short videos.

So what does a deeper relationship with co-ops and farmers look like in practical terms? We thought you might appreciate an example.

Nicaragua

Salt Spring Coffee has visited the San Juan del Rio Coco region in Northwestern Nicaragua six times in the last the five years, and twice in the last six months. In this region we work specifically with two outstanding partner co-ops: Zacarias Padillo and Jose Alfredo Zeladon. Responsive, willing and open, they’ve been working with us to find creative solutions to some of their daily challenges – namely, improving their coffee quality and crop yields.

During a previous visit to Nicaragua, we identified that although these co-ops were growing their coffees organically, there was an opportunity to improve soil fertility through some basic equipment additions.

After some research and consultation with other farmers, most notably Byron Corrales of Byron’s Maracaturra, we identified that incorporating a small chipper into each co-ops’ chain of production could make a world of difference to the vitality of their soil.

Getting chippers to the co-ops took some work. We personally picked up three chippers in Jinotega, loaded and tied down all three to the back of our pickup truck, and hand delivered them to Zacaris Padillo (about five hours by truck from Jinotega) where I started it up and gave a demonstration on its use.

What’s a chipper?

It’s a piece of equipment that chops-up coffee plant trimmings and other organic vegetation. You name it, leaves, branches, residue from wet processing and other readily available organic materials are fair game. Mix all that with some cow and horse manure and there you have it - a good basic compost. Now it's up to them to create the mixture that will feed and enrich next season's harvest.

The delivery of the chippers to our co-op partners at Zacarias Padillo gives me tremendous satisfaction. I was moved by the excitement and passion of the co-op leaders. They could not wait to start using the chippers - right away they were brainstorming and talking through how they would put them to good use.

I’m already looking forward to going back to Zacarias Padillo later this year to see the progress they’ve made.

What origin trips like this always do is drive home why we the make extra efforts we do, and reinforce the value of Fair to Farmer Direct at Salt Spring Coffee.

He's been decorating trees and dancing in the streets. Banks Thomas is back from Peru.

Banks Thomas •  06 August 2010 •  Category: Travel Stories

As Director of Coffee for Salt Spring Coffee one of the best parts of my job is the annual visit to our growing partners in origin.

Since 2002 we’ve been traveling to Peru to work with a truly exceptional group of coffee farmers at Co-operativa Agraria Cafetalera (CAC) in Pangoa. Kevin Burk our Director of Sales and I departed Vancouver International Airport early on the morning of July 23, touching down in Lima about 18-hours later. We grabbed a quick cat nap, a quick coffee and headed out on our journey to reach Pangoa – it’s 450km east of Lima and a wild drive into the rugged and remote mountains. Anyone whose traveled to Peru knows that driving laws are merely just suggestions and that going twice the speed limit and passing on a blind curve is completely the norm!

When working in Peru it’s key to remember that a “plan” is also merely a suggestion. To work successfully in Peru you really have to be willing to go with the flow as plans change all the time. Our original plan was to arrive in Pangoa on the July 25 and taste all the samples that were summated for our Coffees of Distinction competition… however, when we arrived in Pangoa the samples hadn’t yet arrived and a few hadn’t been roasted, so we decided to change the plan and visit two of our Coffees of Distinction winners from 2009. We were keen to see how the farmers and their families were doing and how they had decided to spend the premium they won in last year’s competition.

Our first visit was to Marcelo Ramos of Finca Trimpo. Last year, Marcelo showed us some seedlings that he had planned to plant in 2010. With the premium that he received from his Coffees of Distinction win, Marcelo was able to buy much-needed organic fertilizer to make his new seedlings a success. This is great news, because this year his crop was a little smaller than he had hoped but he knows that with these new plants his crop and coffee quality will improve in the years to come.

The second 2009 Coffees of Distinction winner we visited was the elusive Ceasar Riveros of Finca Cedros. Last year when we visited Ceasar he wasn’t there and ironically the same thing happened again this year; we did however get the opportunity to meet his daughter, Milda Acevedo. Milda was very kind and showed us the family’s beautiful farm. Hopefully, we will have the chance to connect with the mysterious Ceasar on our next visit to Pangoa.

On day two in Pangoa we visited two farmers with new washing stations and solar dryers – two items that will make their jobs a whole lot easier while also improving their coffee's quality. Finca Montevideo was the first farm that we visited and from the moment we arrived we knew this place was special.

It took Favio Sarzo Huachopoma three years to build his new washing station and solar dryer:

“It was very hard to find the money and materials to build all of this but I knew that if I finished it my job as a farmer would be so much easier and I can use the extra time to grow more and better coffee”

After we spent a few hours with Favio we decided to head down the road to Finca Nevado Sara Sara owned by Jesus Vina. Many of you will remember Jesus, he's our first Coffees of Distinction winner (back in 2008) and his coffee was our first Culinary Micro-Lot. We couldn’t stay too long at Jesus’ farm because Favio had some amazing chicken soup cooking for us back at his house!

On day three we were finally able to cup the samples for this year. There were only 15 entries due to a fact of life that exists in many coffee-farming communities. A new company moved into Pangoa last year and secured loans to many farmers. A lot of farmers then had to sell their coffee early to pay back these loans – otherwise, they would face very high interest rate charges. On a positive note, we did taste some really great coffees and had two repeat winners, Meza Alanya of Finca Felix and Torres Ramos of Finca Opertino, both winners in 2008. We selected five of 15 coffees. Each scored 84+ and were very fresh samples. Fresh “green” coffee doesn’t cup as well as it does with a little rest time, so I’m sure the coffees will cup at least a point or two higher by the time they arrive in Vancouver for roasting. Mickey and Robbyn heading back to Pangoa in September – so stay tuned for more updates and info on CAC Pangoa.

Day four meant that we had to say goodbye to Esparanza, the General Manager of CAC Pangoa because we had scheduled a visit at Villa Rica with a group of native coffee farmers, the Yanesha. We visited this group back in 2009 and are amazed at the progress they've made in so little time – they are now well on their way to be certified organic. If all goes well we will be able to purchase certified organic coffee from the Yanesha next year.

Lucky for us - the night we stayed in Villa Rica was the beginning of a weeklong coffee festival – what timing! The whole village came out to celebrate the harvest. Here, I had the opportunity to do something that I will never forget. In this region of Peru villagers go into the forest, cut down a big tree and take it back to town; they then dig a hole in the middle of the street and replant the tree. Next, they decorate the tree with balloons and candy – right there in the middle of the road! The band starts and a small group of people (you can guess where this goes…) is invited to dance around the tree with an axe – each individuals takes a turn chopping at the newly decorated tree. You can only imagine, there I was taking a swing at a decorated tree in the middle of Villa Rica! The funny thing is - the person who takes the last swing with the axe and chops down the tree has to pay for the party the following year! The final chop did not come from me, but if it had the villagers would have expected me to join the party next year – and foot the bill!

On our last day in beautiful coffee country we visited CAC Palomar, a new co-op in the Villa Rica area. CAC Palomar is a fairly young co-op (just nine years old) and comprised of approximately 100 coffee farmers. Really, for such a young and small co-op CAC Palomar is extremely advanced. Unlike CAC Pangoa, CAC Palomar has a central washing station and next year they plan to do all their own dry milling. My hope is that we will be able to buy a container from CAC Palomar in 2011 in addition to the coffee that we purchase from CAC Pangoa.

I’m now back in Vancouver and anxious to receive all the great new coffees uncovered on this trip to Peru - we'll let you know once they have arrived! Stay tuned.

Robbyn and Mickey's visit to Sumatra

Robbyn Scott •  06 July 2010 •  Category: Travel Stories

Mickey and I have had a long-time love for Sumatran coffee.

Years ago, in the early 70's, the two of us discovered a coffee in Ashland, Oregon with a flavor that blew our minds.  Years later, in 1996, we discovered that flavor again when we started the Salt Spring Coffee Company and roasted our first batch of Sumatran coffee. It has been at the heart of SSCC's success and continues to be one of our top-selling coffees!

This past March (2010), Mickey and I and our SSCC's 'Director of Coffee', Banks Thomas, made our first Sumatran coffee-trip and visited the KBQB coop farms where our beloved coffee comes from. We found there is more to love about Sumatra coffee than just the flavor.

Here are some photos and a few notes from our trip (click to view larger photos and descriptions):

Our Sumatran coffee comes from the KBQB cooperative based in Northern Sumatra in the region of Aceh where all of Sumatran organic coffee is grown.

The KBQB cooperative's representatives, Sam Filiaci and Lito Bombeta, hosted us. We enjoyed wonderful accommodations, meals and had great visits with the farmers, the farms and viewed the cooperative's coffee processing facilities and offices.

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The majority of sumatran coffee plants are 'hybrid de timor' and because of this varietal and the region's climate, the trees produce coffee year round.

Coffee Harvesting and Processing

The coffee is brought to the cooperative's central receiving station and drying fields. The average size of a coffee farm is 1 hector.

When the coffee is dried to 12%, it is put thru a machine to remove the parchment and sorted 3 times to insure quality.

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'Banana Milkshake' coffee

A sign of high quality coffee in its 40% moisture stage is when it has a hint of 'banana' aroma. We were being told about this phenomena all during our visit and finally, on our last day, we witnessed it ourselves!!! Our next batch of Sumatran coffee is from this lot of coffee and arriving soon!

Offices at the KBQB coop

The coop's offices, where they store all the files for keeping track of  kbqb's members and the coffee transactions.  It was amazingly organized! We were impressed!!

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Preparing the coffees for cupping

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The KBQB's coop's pre-k school and women's health centre

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Some unique sights from our Sumatran trip

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Time to head back to Medan and home

We left the coffee region on an 'Indiana JONES-type' airline. It was a smooth ride but later we were told it usually is not like that!  Lucky us!

There's alot more work to be done in Sumatra. We'll be back!!!

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