|
Partner News
|
Cecovasa wins the National Quality Competition for the Second Time! |
Print
|
E-mail
|
Posted: November 7, 2007
On October 12 in the city of Tingo Maria, a jury of five international cuppers and five of Peru’s best cuppers determined, with 94.68 points, that Cecovasa’s coffee was the best coffee in Peru. The coffee was presented by Wilson Sucaticona from the Tunkimayo sector, a member of the San Jorge Cooperative that is the base of the Association. This was the result of the Third National Quality Coffee Competition organized by the National Coffee Board, the Peruvian Chamber of Coffee and Cocoa, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Alternative Development Program.
Miguel Paz, who received the award for CECOVASA, said: “This is a triumph for organic agriculture. The winning coffee is certified by the Rainforest Alliance, Imo and Naturland. It is a triumph for all of the producers that work to conserve biodiversity and we want to express our solidarity with our companions from Ayabaca and Huancabamba who recently voted by majority “Yes to Life, No to Abusive and Irresponsible Mining.” This is a victory for the small producer who has the ability and patience of a jeweler as he takes care of his coffee. It is he who has today received a ranking of more than 90 out of 100 points. The Peruvian farmer has the key to quality and to be internationally competitive. Peru’s eight best coffees—not to mention the 40 finalists—are all from small producers. This is the triumph of Fair Trade that demands quality and pays a better price.”
“This is the triumph of our technical department which is made up of 38 professionals, 16 of which are cooperatives, 6 are from Cecovasa, 8 are from the local government, 8 are from the cooperation (PRA, OXFAM GB, Sur Café). Our Association shares this victory with the intelligent cooperation of the United Nations, International Conservation, CICDA and others who offer professionals to our technical department. Our quality control is recognized by the German Cooperation that co-financed two laboratories, one in the Tambopata Valley in the town of Putina Punco and the other in the Inambari Valley. ”
“Today, October 12, is the Day of the Race (Día de la Raza) and Cecovasa and its 4,581 members are the winners. The Quechua and Aymarás races once again confirm the quality of their work. Cecovasa also won the National Competition in 2005. CECOVASA IS A TWO-TIME NATIONAL WINNER.”
Miguel Paz ended by saying, “We want to win a new competition next year. If it is the Cup of Excellence, that would be the best. Peru will win; the producers are organized to work for quality and HASTA LA VICTORIA, SIEMPRE.”
The manager of the National Coffee Board, Lorenzo Castillo, reported that second place was awarded to APROCASSI, whose coffee earned 93.15 points. The 92.3 points earned by the La Divisoria Cooperative earned third place. He added that “Peruvian coffee has won prizes in the United States and Europe, displacing Mexico as the leader in the organic coffee market. He explained that the purpose of this competition is to promote the quality of Peruvian coffee, which has been demonstrated to equal the finest coffees in the world. It is also recognition of the small producers and their efforts to produce special coffees. Another medium-term objective is to determine the profile of Peruvian coffee’s origin according to its sensory characteristics, systematizing the steps—from the plantation to the cup—that are needed to obtain a quality coffee. He said that the top winners would be auctioned to the most important international roasters, who would offer a special price that has reached as much as $650 per hundred pound bag. This time it is anticipated that the price will reach $1,000 per hundred pound bag when the current average price is $130.
Rolando Cañas, head of the cupping team, emphasized the high quality of the coffees that competed. He affirmed that good Peruvian coffee is “Elegant and refined with a floral aroma and hints of chicha morada and cocona.” Peru is the winner of this competition.
|
|
|
|
|
Peruvian Cacao Competition |
Print
|
E-mail
|
Our Partners, CACVRA and El Quinacho Receive Recognition for the High Quality of their Cacao Beans
Posted: August 3, 2007
The 1st NATIONAL PERUVIAN CACAO COMPETITION was held during May and June 2007. This event was sponsored by the Peruvian Association of Cacao Producers (APP Cacao) and the Program for Alternative Development, with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Peruvian Chamber of Coffee and Cacao, the French NGO VSF – CICDA, and the Swiss company, PRONATEC.
The competition was organized to improve the quality standards and international image of Peruvian cacao. Fourteen producer cooperatives from all over Peru and two private companies participated. A total of 38 samples were received and codified with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Biolatina (a certifying institution), and the INASSA laboratory, that provided use of its space in Lima for the analysis.
The competition was held in two phases. The first phase, held in the city of Lima, involved a physical evaluation of the beans to analyze their moisture content, fermentation level, and number of defects.
During the second phase, held in the city of Juanjuí, the five best samples from phase one underwent a sensory analysis to measure fruity flavors. This analysis identified and gave formal recognition to the flavor profile and quality standards of beans that are produced in the different cacao zones in Peru.
The First National Peruvian Cacao Competition officially ended on June 28th with the top three places going to two producer coops, both of whom supply cacao for Equal Exchange chocolate bars.
The Valle Río Apurimac Agrarian Coffee Cooperative (CACVRA) obtained first and second place with samples from the Naranjal and Villa Virgen sector committees, respectively. The prizes: a drying system sponsored by Romero Trading and a Honda motorcycle provided by SOS FAIM.
Third place was awarded to the El Quinacho Cooperative: travel and lodging at the 2008 BIOFACH Fair in Germany, provided by the Dutch organizations, Rabobank Foundation and the DOEN Foundation.
The Peruvian Association of Cacao Producers, APP CACAO, publicly congratulated CACVRA and the El Quinacho Cooperatives for strengthening their organizations and for the efforts they have made to improve the quality of their cacao.
| 
|
Equal Exchange would also like to congratulate CACVRA and El Quinacho and thank them for their hard work and commitment to producing high quality cacao, and their dedication to improving the quality of life of their members and communities.
Consumers can find Cacvra and El Quinacho's award-winning cacao in Equal Exchange's chocolate bars! | |
|
|
Peru's Congress of the Republic Invites Three Co-ops to a Working Meeting with Sierra Exportadora |
Print
|
E-mail
|
Posted: February 8, 2007
"Ms Marisol Espinoza – congresswoman -, I am so grateful for having had this opportunity to get to know the experiences and achievements of Cepicafé, Cecovasa and Cacvra; Cepicafé has shown an amazing capacity for product diversification and enormous development potential. Cecovasa is an example or an organization which has succeeded in market segmentation and an extremely high quality of work; Cacvra has the additional merit of achieving results in a local context of illegal coca plantations and political violence." This was the opinion of Dr. Gastón Benza Pflücker, Executive President of Sierra Exportadora Program, at the end of the session organized by the Foreign Trade Working Team, chaired by the Congresswoman from Piura. In this important event, held in María Elena Moyano meeting room at the Congress of the Republic on January 16th, there was also participation from Congressman Isaac Mekler.
Sergio Neira recapitulated Cepicafé's work: it was founded in 1995 in Piura, and today the organization develops activities in Cajamarca and Amazonas. Cepicafé has 6,363 member families. "We started exporting in 1997; that year we exported 187 quintals, in 2006 we exported 41,918 out of them 27,355 at Fair Trade conditions (18,018 organic and 9,337 conventional). With coffee as our pillar, we have diversified into brown sugar from sugar cane; we exported 552 tons to France and Italy in 2006. Then, we started with jams to the European market: In 2007 we are going to ship 6 containers with a FOB value of US$ 300,000; we have also sold passion fruit and cacao, we are working now in new products and new projects."
On behalf of Cecovasa, Miguel Paz explained the development of this organization - from Puno - in the market of high quality coffees: "Our sales in the 2006-2007 campaign exceed US$ 12 million. We place 65% of our coffee into the specialty market - the ones that have been segmented by altitude, production zone, producers' ethnic composition, and have offered these coffees to the market with distinctive brands".
Mr. Pedro Pineda from Cacvra shared the experience of the Valle del Río Apurímac Cooperative in Ayacucho, "Cacvra was founded in 1969. During those years we have had a very serious crisis, mainly due to terrorism and drug dealers, even though we are succeeding with coffee and cacao. In 2006, we exported 800 tons of cacao to Switzerland, out of them 500 are organic. Our situation has improved and we have received support from the European Union, loans for working capital with interest from 8 to 9% per year, marketing research, participation in fairs and business trips, product development; technical support and equipment to improve quality, organizational strengthening, and leadership development training."
| |
|
|
|
Sharing the Heritage: Equal Exchange Visit to South Africa |
Print
|
E-mail
|
By Rob Everts
Posted: November 17, 2006
Nearly two hundred years ago the ancestors of our Rooibos tea growing partners were pushed off their land, to the most remote outer reaches of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It was to these arid mountains and plateaus that four of us from Equal Exchange just traveled to learn the experience of the Wupperthal and Heiveld cooperatives, and to uncover the secrets of Rooibos, a plant grown nowhere else in the world. While this exploration has really just begun, the journey planted us right in the middle of the achievements, contradictions and unfinished story of today's post-apartheid South Africa.
The small farmers take enormous pride in their struggle for independence. From our conversations it seemed this pride stemmed from both the new found access to friendly buyers and the potential brought forth by the abolition of apartheid. And it was here that the larger South African context touched every aspect of our learning.
With the historic transition to black majority rule in 1994, Mandela and the governing ANC inherited a nearly impossible situation: a country where whites had every institutional advantage while blacks for generations had been systematically denied land ownership, quality education, housing and health care. And this coincided with the explosion of HIV/AIDS which has driven down the average lifespan in South Africa by more than fifteen years. Apartheid's other devastating legacy is a crime rate among the highest in the world. The government has succeeded in extending basic services to many for the first time. Statutes protecting previously vulnerable populations were enacted, though as anywhere, enforcement can be inconsistent. And the path the new government chose to end its decades of economic isolation resulting from apartheid was that of free trade.
Enter Fair Trade. As Equal Exchange deepens its commitment to small farmers, the larger Fair Trade certification network (FLO) has invited large plantations into the system in crops such as table grapes, wine, citrus — and Rooibos. In the South African context, the plantations have a two hundred year head start. So it goes that Rooibos tea will be an area where Equal Exchange follows our mission and takes on where necessary the FLO system that has drifted from its early roots of commitment to market access for small farmers.
For our new partners at Wupperthal and Heiveld, this is an exciting prospect. Not only do they feel passionate about the quality of their unique product, they are eager to share the heritage of their Khoi San ancestors. The early returns are positive: just four months after its introduction, the consumer response to our Organic, Fair Trade Rooibos has exceeded expectations. We encourage you to try this delightfully flavored non-caffeinated tea. And to share the heritage. |
Cederberg Mountains in South Africa. Origins of Rooibos.
Hendrik Hesselman, Chairperson of the Heiveld Co-op and Rooibos Farmer
Deepak Khandelwal, Equal Exchange Tea Manager, examining a wild Rooibos bush growing on Hendrik's farm
Rooibos
| |
|
|
|
The Alto-Occidente Coffee Growers Cooperative of Caldas |
Print
|
E-mail
|
Organized small-scale
farmers point the way to an alternative development path in Colombia
By Phyllis (Felicia) Robinson
Posted: December 27, 2006
In early November, I had the opportunity to visit a group of small-scale coffee farmers
that Equal Exchange has been working with for 12 years, the Alto Occidente Coffee
Cooperative of Caldas (CCAOC). It was my first trip to Colombia and I was hoping to
gain a better sense of the country's current political and social issues and the impact of
our government's policies on their people. I was particularly excited to get out to the
countryside and meet the farmers who have been providing Equal Exchange with some of
the best tasting coffee on the market!
"Aren't you scared to visit Colombia?" was the question I was most often asked
before my trip. Mention Colombia in the U.S. and there's a good chance it will elicit this
kind of reaction. Understandably so - the country has been enmeshed in a violent
conflict for approximately 50 years, the longest and most protracted in Latin America.
Two to three million Colombians are internally displaced due to the violence. Roughly
40,000, the majority of which were civilians, have been killed since 1990 alone.
The U.S. government is heavily involved in the "war against drugs" through its "Plan
Colombia". We supply the country with the highest amount of military aid, after Egypt
and Israel. One of the strategies employed to destroy the coca crops is aerial spraying of
pesticides. Unfortunately it also destroys legal crops, food and livestock, and causes
health problems for the rural population living nearby. At least one coffee cooperative
located in Cauca, has lost their organic certification due to aerial spraying of the
herbicide, Roundup. As it takes years of hard work and costly fees for a cooperative to
become certified, this was a huge setback for the farmers.
There is no doubt that the situation in Colombia is a difficult and complex one, and as
tax-paying citizens it is important to pay attention to the actions of our government and
the impact of its policies. Nevertheless, every day millions of Colombians are working
hard to build a better future for their families and their communities. CCAOC farmers
are an example of an organized group of innovative and committed individuals; through
the support of their cooperative and trading partners, they are showing another way forward.
These farmers are our partners and I wanted to know more about them: How are they
doing? What are their goals? Are their lives improving now that they are working
together in a cooperative? How do they view their relationship with Equal Exchange?
What impact does this relationship have on their quality of life, their families and
communities? What are their hopes for the future and are we helping them realize those
dreams?
|
Members of ASPROCAFE's Youth Program funded through Fair Trade premiums. Sons and
daughters of farmers participate in income- generating projects that enable them to stay with
their families on the reserves. "Nuestra Señora Candelaria de La Montaña", Riosucio, Caldas.
José Julio Bañol Bañol (former Governor of the Indigenous Reserve "Nuestra Señora
Candelaria de la Montaña") and Alberto Antonio Bañol Bañol, La Florida, Riosucio, Caldas.
Children playing in front of the school which is supported through the sales of coffee.
|
|
|
|
Read more...
|
|
| | << Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>
| | Results 1 - 9 of 22 |
|
|
|
Farmer Partners 
