FARM: Cooperativa Todosantarita
REGION: San Antonio Huista, Huehuetenango
ALTITUDE : 1350 - 1650 MASL
VARIETAL : Caturra, Catuaí, Pache, San Ramon
PROCESS : Washed

Coffee when picked is fermented whole for 24 hours to just bring a little bit of fruit to the profile. Following this, cherries are wet processed and spread on patios to sun dry for around 48 to 60 hours. The majority of the varietals grown is Caturra, forming roughly 65% of the crop.

Huehuetenango is a municipality in the western highlands of Guatemala, running up to the border with Mexico and encompassing a lot of microclimates across its hills and valleys. Members of the Todosantarita cooperative are based in San Antonio Huista on the hills of the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, the highest non-volcanic mountain range in Central America. Todosantarita stands for ‘All Saints’ and refers to the infamous 1st November celebration of Saints that centralize around a yearly horse race.

In March 1986, 17 people created a group that was the precursor to Todosantarita and with the help and expertise of Fedecocagua, Todosantarita cooperative was formally set up 6 years later. Since its inception, they have been able to improve infrastructure with the building and/or repair of roads, and this led to a School, Library, clinic and drinking water improvements too. The Cooperative now consists of 131 members.

Recent challenges have been presented to the group in the form of increased costs of fertilisers, up to three times pre-pandemic costs, as well as a drop in available pickers in harvest times. The higher C market price driving up prices has somewhat saved them this year, though the future is very much under watchful eyes. There is a general deficit of young workers coming through, as it is easier to earn better money abroad and send it back to support the family. The cooperative having a relatively young age of 50, a 20% member representation between 22 and 35 is a heartening sign.