Now you too can enjoy this comforting concoction inside your own home. It is a perfect treat for guests if you’re doing the hosting or even a special twist to your morning cup any day of the week.
We create this classic with none other than Maple Valley Cooperative’s organic maple syrup - some of the very best on the market! Read more about our relationship here.
Cruz Conrad, Chief of Retail and visionary behind Pachamama Cafes’ seasonal menu features says this about coffee and maple pairing with Maple Valley Cooperative.
When you sip on our Maple Lattes, you’re experiencing a fusion of passion, quality, and a dedication to uplifting farmers globally. That’s what Pachamama and Maple Valley stand for – authentic, organic taste and real impact from the source to your cup.” - Cruz Conrad
Step 1:
Pull one or two shots of espresso based on your preference. We like to use our Single Origin Peru or Five Sisters on espresso. These both deliver a perfectly balanced, chocolatey smooth shot.
Step 2:
Pour 1 oz of Maple Syrup (or more if you like yours on the extra sweet side!) into your mug of choice, add in a sprinkle of sea salt directly to the maple syrup and pour in the espresso shot over the top.
Step 3:
Steam or froth your milk of choice. Pour over your espresso mixture and enjoy!
The response from our community was enthusiastic and overwhelmingly positive. The Seasonal Menu features with the maple sweetness quickly became our top sellers and continued to do so week after week. We therefore decided to solidify Maple Valley’s position in all Pachamama Cafés with the Maple Latte on the permanent menu for 2023.
Maple Valley’s Certified Organic syrup has a robust and earthy sweetness that brings out the best in coffee without being overwhelming. When it comes to maple syrup, it’s likely the best of its kind. It’s not just plain sugary, but delivers a sweetness one can almost feel - it reminds us of Sunday morning pancakes, the Holidays and roasted pecans. At Pachamama, we pair it with espresso shots, our cold brew base and your milk of choice, and as always, brew it to perfection.
Cruz Conrad, our Chief Retail Officer and lead barista trainer, is the creative mind behind all of our seasonal and permanent menu options. He takes inspiration from a variety of angles, from seasonal local ingredients to trendy cocktail bars, and always encourages his team of baristas to submit new ideas. Each new coffee drink goes through many iterations to ensure its flavor and texture are just right. Not many ingredients make it past his strict requirements of flavor, quality and alignment with our values. After deep and careful research into maple syrups, he chose fellow cooperative Maple Valley Cooperative as a partner.
“I’m so excited that our Maple Lattes feature the Dark and Robust organic syrup from Maple Valley Cooperative. Just like us, they are a cooperative that is owned by smallholder farmers and employees who unite in their commitment to sustainable, regenerative and organic production. When you sip on our Maple or Gingerbread Brûlée Lattes, with the Maple that is complimented with a carefully, hand-torched caramelized Turbinado topping, you’re not just enjoying a beverage. You’re experiencing a fusion of passion, quality, and a dedication to uplifting farmers globally. That’s what Pachamama and Maple Valley stand for – authentic, organic taste and real impact from the source to your cup.” - Cruz Conrad
About Maple Valley - Dedication and Quality
Maple Valley Cooperative has more than 30 smallholder farmer members tapping trees in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont. Many of these family farmers have passed along their craft of maple sugaring for multiple generations.
Maple Valley farmers are stewards of the land and guardians of the trees. Each farmer who joins the cooperative must engage in mindful and sustainable farming methods. This ensures that the environment stays intact, that the habitat is diverse and abundant with wildlife and that the soil does not erode.
By only minimally tapping the maple trees they stay healthy and can produce for up to 200 years. When forests like this are kept intact and preserved they also ensure that proper carbon sequestration systems remain. In return for their dedication to quality and stewardship, members of the co-op receive a living wage.
As a fellow cooperative, we celebrate the impact that cooperatives have by building resilient communities, creating economic empowerment and committing long term to the environment for a shared collective future and a healthy Pacha Mama, our Mother Earth.
]]>The indigenous communities whose wisdom and labors fill your cup are not just suppliers. In a 100% farmer owned company, they are active decision makers with a full stake in the business. Because we're a different kind of company, our impact is unique. It is not the result of projects or donations, but an entire model centering around farmer equity and agency.
Pachamama farmers respect centuries old traditions of building soil, creating thriving and diverse ecosystems, and preserving hundreds of plant and insect species. They have the means to take care of their families, inclusively set their own prices for coffee, and invest in a better harvest year after year.
Sometimes when we talk to people, they assume that Farmer Owned means that farmers own the land they grow their crops on. However, a 100% farmer-owned cooperative goes far, far beyond that when it comes to ownership and governance.
Pachamama’s smallholder farmers indeed own their land at origin. They also hold every seat in the boardroom and control the price for their coffee. In addition, they own the large roasting facility that we built in 2022 as well as five beautiful cafés in the larger area of Sacramento, California. Here, they employ 54 people who roast and sell the beautiful beans they so carefully grew. Farmers own the name and the brand; they own the very mugs people hold in their hands when enjoying their coffee at our cafés.
We call this being fully vertically integrated, South to North.
Coffee does not grow on northern American soil. The delicate beans require not only an equatorial climate and high elevations to be at their best, it also takes a high level of farming skill to produce quality in the cup. These optimal conditions can be found in each of the coffee growing regions where Pachamama Coffee comes from - Perú, Nicaragua, Guatemala, México and Ethiopia.
The narrative that “coffee is local” by way of roasting it locally is oversimplified and does a great disservice to the smallholder coffee farmers who create one of the world’s more valuable drinks. In fact, more than 90% of the skilled labor required to bring specialty coffee to consumers occurs in the South, usually on a small family farm. Yet 90% of the retail price of coffee typically stays in the North with the roaster and the brand.
Coffee is global, not local. In a 100% farmer owned cooperative, producers are inherently acknowledged, empowered and paid a price they set themselves that reflects the value they created.
Pachamama farmers earn the highest revenue in the industry. Pachamama reverses the value chain with its farmer-owned business model that keeps the profit and power in the farmers’ hands. Between 2021-2022, Pachamama’s average revenue was $18.55 for every pound of roasted coffee sold, which is 6x higher than in Fair Trade and 7x higher than in Conventional.
Pachamama farmers earn enough to stay on the farm and reinvest in future harvests. More than half of the 400,000 smallholder farmers are women who play a significant role in cultivating coffee from planting and harvesting to processing. Together, these proud men and women are not only excellent stewards of the land, they are business owners, shareholders and decision makers as well first and foremost.
Most Pachamama farmers are indigenous to their regions, using ancestral knowledge to grow coffee. These regenerative farming practices mitigate negative impacts of extreme weather events as fertile soil preserves water and healthy trees are more resistant.
A typical Pachamama coffee farm is small, maybe a few acres in size, and is a thriving ecosystem brimming with life. Many foods are grown on these lands - bananas, nuts, spices, and cacao - and there is an abundance of birds, bees, insects and worms that nourish the soil. Amongst this diversity Pachamama farmers also grow pristine Arabica coffee beans.
Merling Preza is Pachamama’s Co-Founder and President of the Board of Directors. A coffee farmer herself, Merling is working tirelessly to advocate for farmers, and particularly for women, in her local Nicaragua and around the world.
“Pachamama Coffee’s model is unique” she says. “First of all because the farmers are the owners of Pachamama Coffee. This not only generates wealth for our families and communities, but also provides dignity. We are the owners in the entire coffee chain, it is our product from our hands to the consumer.”
Her California-based counterpart, Co-Founder and CEO Thaleon Tremain who works for her and the farmer owners, is responsible for bringing their business strategy to life. He sees great opportunity for years to come when it comes to consumers in the US. “We are excited to forge ahead,” he says, “driven by our shared passion for regenerative farming and the pursuit of great coffee. On behalf of the Pachamama team, thank you for your ongoing support and your dedication to smallholder farmers.”
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Pachamama Coffee was founded almost 20 years ago on a commitment to connect coffee farmers around the world directly to coffee consumers in the United States. We understand the importance and impact that small scale farmers around the world have on shaping our food systems, feeding the world and preserving the planet’s biodiversity. The best ingredients come straight from the source. By settling our HQ in none other than the Farm to Fork Capital, Sacramento, CA, we have a unique opportunity to bring farmer direct coffee to the farmer direct capital.
We find ourselves inspired by a movement that bridges the gap between farm and table, championing fresh, local, and sustainable food. This essence of Farm-to-Fork is more than just a regional celebration—it’s an embodiment of our values at Pachamama. Every choice we make, from our partnerships to our brewing techniques, is a testament to our commitment to this ethos. By prioritizing local, sustainable, and ethically-sourced ingredients, we’re not only delivering exceptional taste but also fostering a stronger, more connected community. It’s a celebration of the land, its bounty, and the hands that cultivate it, all converging in the cup you hold.
We began the month of celebrations on the steps of the California State Capital serving coffee alongside a world class line up of wineries, breweries and eateries. This event is one of our favorites, connecting us with long-time customers and giving us new influence among the region.
On Saturday September 23 we were joined on the Capital Mall with our friends and partners around the region for a day celebrating the farm-to-table movement and the vibrancy of the Sacramento region’s agricultural and culinary resources.
This event was a culmination of everything we stand for and believe in as a cooperative. At Pachamama Coffee, it is especially important to us that you, the consumers, know who you are buying your coffee, food, and beverages from. When you buy directly from those who are producing the products, you are empowering the farmers, the ranchers, the cooperatives, etc.
As farmers, nothing warms our heart more than to see our region come together in support of the work that we, and thousands of other farmers and cooperatives, do every day. Thank you to the Sacramento region for showing their support at the Farm-to-Fork Festival. We were happy to be a part of this special day and we look forward to next year’s Farm-to-Fork Festival.
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When you visit a Pachamama Café, you’ll find our Five Sisters blend as our espresso staple for its perfectly balanced blend to deliver a creamy and sweet espresso with just the right roundness of fruit forward flavors.
Our standard recipe for espresso, and what we recommend for a starting point for home espresso, is an 18.5g dose and a 37g yield. This is a 1:2 brew ratio, that means you’ll weigh out 18.5 grams of ground coffee to extract 37g of liquid espresso out.
Important parameters:
Keep in mind that individual preferences may vary, so feel free to experiment with different parameters to find the perfect balance that suits your taste preferences and the specific coffee beans you are using. Enjoy your espresso!
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Kintu offering made on Día de Pachamama for shared prosperity
A key tenant to these celebrations is the idea of reciprocity, also called Anyi in the Quechua language, a principle embracing that what we take must also be given back. Pachamama means Mother Earth in Quechua and given our namesake, Anyi or reciprocity, is a core principle of the way our farmer-owners across Latin America and Africa grow and cultivate their coffee. Long-term health of the farmers’ land and families, also always means a better quality coffee for your cup.
Pachamama’s owners are all certified organic, growing coffee on small farms full of shade trees, shrubs and native wildlife. Organic farming means there are no pesticides used that will impact the native plants and animals, instead farmers work with Mother Nature and indigenous farming methods to grow their crops.
Coffee farmer in Huatusco, Mexico shovels the discarded outer cherry layer of the coffee to utilize as natural fertilizer on coffee fields
Today, indigenous farming techniques are often referred to as regenerative agriculture. Regenerative methods means farming in honor of life, giving back to the Earth. They are not only intended to preserve the land and its biodiversity, but to improve soil health and allow crops to flourish in harmony with the ecosystem around them. Restoring soil biodiversity results in carbon sequestration and improves the water cycle, thereby reversing climate change impacts according to Regeneration International.
When coffee operations don’t prioritize biodiversity, soil health and intercropping of shade trees, farm land is depleted and will eventually be lost for coffee cultivation. In contrast, indigenous, regenerative ways of growing coffee create a symbiotic relationship with the land and allow plants and life to thrive.
When Mother Earth is prioritized we create sustainable, long-lasting systems. Reciprocity and respect for Mother Earth is deeply interwoven in the cultural heritage of our farmer-owners to respect and protect the land that provides for us. Pachamama was founded upon this ideal and will remain committed to such.
To learn even more about Dia de La Pachamama and its importance to our cooperative read Pachamama Coffee Honors Andean roots for Dia De Pachamama Part 1 and Part 2.
]]>Hosted by Camellia Coffee and Kodaiko, participants and onlookers filled the downstairs bar to watch as barista and bartender teamed up to battle it out to create the best boozy caffeinated concoction.
Pachamama’s Maksym Khaliziev was the reigning back to back champion in years past, combining his talents from behind the bar as both bartender and barista. You can read more about his wins here! Maks stepped aside this year to let Pachamama’s ‘Cooperative Cafe’ lead, Kenzie Coleman compete.
Kenzie (they/she) partnered up with Adrian (he/him) from Kru Sacramento to create a drink they called “When We Were Kids.”
“This drink’s intention is to bring back those memories from summertime when we were kids. Those sunny days we would play by the pool, go to the lake with the family, play water guns with friends. This drink is a reminder of the youthful summer we once had, and can still have today.
The cocktail will be highlighting the smokiness of the George Dickel bourbon whiskey aged 8 years and the Ethereal Blend from Camellia Coffee which has notes of blueberry and caramel. Sourcing ingredients from the Sacramento Food Co-Op, we have chosen to use homemade peach and blueberry syrup to bring out the lovely notes in the coffee while balancing out the sharpness of the bourbon. Using a Moroccan mint green tea and some Co-Op made Orange Juice. Enhanced with Club soda and a touch of fresh lemon.”
Introducing our newest seasonal menu item: the Olive Oil Latte. It hit the ground running at our five café locations around the greater Sacramento area.
This drink has been described as smooth, nutty and indulgent.
Our handcrafted latte combines the richness of locally-sourced extra-virgin olive oil with the creamy texture of steamed milk and our velvety espresso. The nutty undertones of the olive oil blend perfectly with the espresso and milk creating an incredible mouthfeel.
Food Reporter Benjy Egel from the Sacramento Bee gave the Olive Oil Latte a try, read his thoughts here: Olive Oil and Coffee Do Mix
We have always been committed to sourcing only the best high quality ingredients and sourcing olive oil was no exception. Meet Pasture 42 our supplier of olive oil for this specialty coffee drink.
Located in the Capay Valley, Pasture 42 is a small-scale family farm dedicated to sustainable farming practices.
We met Susan and Ken, the farmer owners of Pasture 42 at the weekly farmers market in Davis, Ca where we both have stands on Saturday. Pasture 42 sells their pastured meats, eggs, olive oil, balsamic citrus and soaps.
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A year ago, with your help, our community raised over $6000 for various organizations supporting Ukraine. We know the hardship is not over for the people in Ukraine and want to join together again to support the community. It’s easy to see how the repercussions of these events are felt everywhere.
As a cooperative, we know the power of standing together to provide crucial economic and social support during times of political and cultural crisis. We also know that we are not alone in this resolve.
On Saturday April 16, Pachamama's Makysm Khaliziev will be hosting a fundraiser pop-up to collect more donations for the people of Ukraine. The fundraiser will be from 10am - 1pm at Pachamama Coffee's East Sacramento location 3644 J St, Sacramento CA. Maks will be selling merchandise and art from Ukrainian artists, and other pastries and goods.
Meet the Organizations
Donate directly here: https://protezfoundation.com/#rec457377453
The Come Back Alive Foundation provides competent assistance to the military. "Since 2014, our key goal has been to make the Defense Forces more efficient, save the lives of the military and systematically counter the enemy. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, we have multiplied our military assistance and supported the defenders of Ukraine, who have changed their everyday lives and joined the line of defense.
The Foundation purchases equipment that helps saving the lives of the military, including thermal imaging optics, quadcopters, cars, security, and intelligence systems."
Donate directly here: https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate-en/#donate-fund-card-once
We are introducing our newest partnership to shorten the supply chain: Jochipapanete Jewelry, directly from the Shipibo-Konibo community in Peru. This unique connection formed when Pachamama Coffee barista, Kacie Ouimet, visited the group in Peru at their healing center during her travels across the country. Inspired by their story, Kacie wanted to connect the center to the United States market to sell their unique handmade jewelry to a new audience.
“Purchasing jewelry from Jochipapanete is quite a celebration - because it’s both connecting us with a beautiful culture based in healing and love, and it’s supporting the Shipibo-Konibo community and the continuance of their traditions and ways of life. The sale of each piece directly benefits the woman who has created it, and subsequently her family and entire community. ” - Kacie Ouimet
About the Shipibo-Konibo Community
That’s when Rosenda, Deodomero and Sarela started to work on their dream of creating a community center to empower their family and provide income for their community to stay on the land they call home. Differing from other centers in the area, the Jochipapanete Center is indigenous owned and operated, so that native communities are sharing their culture and knowledge directly to educate visitors.
“Maestro Deodomero had a dream of creating a Shipibo owned healing center, where people from all over the world can come heal and become the truest version of themselves - with support of the Shipibos wisdom, ancestral knowledge of plants, medicine and Earth around them - with the activity of the center supporting Shipibo communities” - Kacie Ouimet
Reiterating this story of respect and reciprocity that is so prevalent for Peruvian culture, they built a space within the community that is owned and created by everything found within. This idea of reciprocity is something that we have recited here at Pachamama as a foundation for our business model. The cycle of reciprocity and circular growth is important as we engage in communities from the United states and beyond.
"Their traditions have deep roots of ancestral knowledge respect for nature and a loyal connection to family”
By keeping money within the places where goods are coming from we ensure a better way of life for those people and also create better goods in return from the commitment on both ends of the supply chain.
Jewelry Designs
We are so excited to introduce this product line and partnership with all of our loyal customers. You can see the quality craft and dedication in each pair of earrings. They are all handmade in the traditional techniques of the community with no two designs exactly the same.
“The Kené is a design based on thoughts and reflections of the cosmovision in relation to the natural world of the Indigenous group of Shipibo-Konibo within the Amazon Jungle. The embroideries that carry these Kené designs and the medicinal plant Ayahuasca, beautify and heal at the same time. These pieces are unique, despite repeating some patterns, copies are never reproduced as they are personal visions.
We hope that you enjoy it. Receive our greetings and may the compassionate light of the Great Spirit illuminate your hearts with peace and reconciliation. We do not believe that it is a time to continue sharpening our contradictions, but rather to find peace, humility, prudence and wisdom, in love for the earth and for life.” - Maestro Deodomero
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Checking in on us, Alexa Marin shared just how the unprecedented weather has impacted her farm and most of Nicaragua’s coffee crops for that matter. The unpredictable rainfall, heat, frost etc are nothing new for Alexa. She has described in detail for years that the weather is changing, “confusing the plants,” and creating conditions for diseases to spread and thrive.
“The heavy rains have been the cause of the rust that is advancing every day, it becomes more resistant and it becomes difficult to eliminate it, which causes more production costs and loss of coffee plants.”
These are the newest photos she shared detailing the coffee rust “el roya” (left) and a newer disease they refer to as “ojo de gallo” (right) which roughly translates to eye of the rooster.
Alexa stated “This cycle the coffee has this disease called ojo de gallo, it is a fungus that attacks leaves, branches and fruits, this due to the constant changes in climate”
As you can see in the photos the impact on this singular tree is huge, let alone if this infects an entire plot.
Alexa shares that they are working hard to control the infection. Over the next two months Alexa has her work cut out for her.
“Work for march and april:
Replacing infected trees and maintaining the crop is more expensive and time consuming as she describes, but there is no other option. If you want to make an impact for Alexa and other farmers like her, replant and future proof their crops, consider making a tree donation below.
Climate change is going to (and currently is) impacting agriculture systems around the world. Since coffee growing is set to unique microclimates and growing conditions it will be hit hard. We have a choice to make as we move forward as a global community to choose to invest in better systems for our planet.
We are proud to be 100% certified organic by USDA and CCOF ensuring that natural ecosystems are cared for and maintained. This is only a small piece of the puzzle but one that could lead to devastating impacts if it is not taken seriously.
Alexa has written for us before about the direct impacts she feels in Nicaragua from things like climate change, the pandemic, the coffee crisis and more. It is our job to continue to spread her message and share the possibility of a brighter future together.
Read more from Alexa here: The Widening Coffee Crisis
]]>In video interview with Rosa Angelica Sarabia, Ms. Preza discussed the vision behind Pachamama Coffee and the difference this business model has for coffee farming families.
Q: How is the Pachamama business model different from other organizations?
A:Pachamama Coffee’s model is unique. First of all because the farmers are the owners of Pachamama Coffee. This not only generates wealth for our families and our communities, but also provides dignity. We are the owners in the entire coffee chain, so it provides dignity for the farmer. This is one of the main things: as farmers, we know what is happening in the market, it is our product from our hands to the consumer.
Pachamama is a dream turned into reality thanks to the effort of what I call an alliance between collaborators of Pachamama Coffee, the farmers and our cooperatives. Pachamama is a unique model for the small farmers in the market.
For us, it is a process of development. We have worked to invest in our communities, in our families, in our fields. This model goes beyond a fair price. It does generate a better cost/profit/price and it also inspires people to produce a better quality product that we ourselves will put on the market. In turn, this model means better living conditions for our people through our cooperatives and organizing farmers.
Q: What does this change look like for families?
A:For us, the difference by selling in the fair trade market is primarily because in our communities there is a lack of access to services, access to education, access to health services, people have to travel for these, and many times they have no resources to do so.
With programs that we have developed, we are able to provide this access, our partners can go to the doctor. We generate these types of campaigns. We also have programs like, “Studying with coffee,” where students learn through a foundation of good values. We have scholarships for the youth, and that begins to better the quality of life for our people.
The other focus is food security. With climate change, there are times where production is low, there is not enough revenue. We work towards making sure that people have access to food always, to making sure that there is always food on the table.
It is hard for people who always have food on the table to understand, but in putting themselves in the shoes of our farmer families and thinking of having to say, “Today I cannot give you all the bread and all the milk, I will give you half.” It is the difference between eating and not eating. With the cooperative model, a fair price, this allows farmers to have food on the table.
Q: Can you talk about the coffee crisis and how climate change is impacting small scale farmers?
A:The coffee crisis has lasted two, three years. It began with low prices, a price crisis, one of the worst price depressions in the past years. What does that mean? It means farmers sell their product for less, less revenue to farmers, less income for our families, lower capacity to maintain our land, lower capacity to buy food, less chances to guarantee access to health and education.
Climate change, the quality of life of our farmers, and quality of the product is also part of this crisis. This crisis affects everyone, the farmer and the consumer, because if the coffee is not well attended, it will not be of high quality.
Climate change also affects the way farmers work and care for the production. Our cooperatives are making an effort to take care of our environment, to continue producing high quality organic coffee. This requires an exchange of quality: we put out a good quality product, take care of the environment, have social quality, and in turn we receive the fair value for our product and a better quality of life for our farmers. This is the challenge: How do we achieve this in a price crisis, how can we better sell our coffee and that added value manifest in a better quality of life for our farmer families? Pachamama Coffee is one way to do it.
Q: How does buying from Pachamama Coffee as a consumer help the farmer?
A: Pachamama is part of the solution to the market crisis. Whoever buys Pachamama Coffee is contributing to the development of our communities, and contributing to growing a model where farmers are empowered.
Coffee is a way of life, a way of life for our families. Behind each cup of coffee there is a family. We cannot see coffee on its own, but as part of a whole.
Consumers who choose Pachamama Coffee is doing their part to change the world, contributing to the sustainability of our world in general, to changing relationships, to the sustainability of our environment, to the lives of our families and their own life, because Pachamama is a clean product, an organic product. Choosing Pachamama makes a difference .
We, as producers, are the owners of Pachamama. The making of the Pachamama business model has taken us more time, it is a different model, it is a model that empowers, a model that gives value. We are the owners of this coffee and of this brand. Pachamama is ours.
You can view another excerpt from this interview here:
https://pachamamacoffee.com/blogs/blog/meet-merling-preza-co-founder-and-president-of-pachamama-coffee-and-general-manager-of-prodecoop
]]>At Pachamama, we live by a different business model; one where the distribution of power and wealth is parallel to your contribution and participation in the company's goals and mission. We believe in the power of cooperatives and the value of putting people before profits. We attribute our success to the cooperative business model, enabling farmers to pool their resources and democratically govern a global corporation. In doing so, Pachamama Coffee is able to provide stable pricing and services that make coffee farmers around the world more profitable.
You may already be familiar with the cooperative model. There are many kinds of cooperatives (or co-ops). They range in size from small farms to large companies. In some ways, cooperatives operate like any other business, but they also have several unique characteristics:
They are owned and democratically controlled by their members — the people who use the co-op's services or buy its goods — not by outside investors. They return surplus revenues to members proportionate to their use of the cooperative, not proportionate to their investment or ownership share. They are motivated to meet their members' needs for affordable and high quality goods or services. According to specialists at the USDA, “the cooperative business structure can help members build wealth and increase a community’s economic power.”
Co-ops are formed by their members when the marketplace fails to provide needed goods or services at affordable prices and acceptable quality. They empower people to improve their quality of life and enhance their economic opportunities through mutual self-help. Throughout the world, cooperatives are providing their members with financial services, utilities, consumer goods, affordable housing, and other services that would otherwise not be available to them. Cooperatives make up a vast and quickly growing way to do business, not just here in the United States but also globally. According to the International Cooperative Alliance, “at least 12% of humanity is a cooperator of any of the 3 million cooperatives on earth.” As the first and only farmer owned coffee cooperative in the United States, we believe wholeheartedly in the economic value and necessity of cooperatives. We are proud that our business is built upon values that put people first, not profits.
The strength and resilience of cooperatives is defined by its members and owners. Just like how cooperatives can be formed for a variety of reasons, the types of cooperatives are just as diverse.
Consumer Cooperatives are owned by the people who buy the goods or use the services of the cooperative. Consumer co-ops may sell consumer goods such as food or outdoors equipment, or provide housing, electricity and telecommunications. Other co-ops offer financial (credit unions), healthcare, childcare and funeral services. Almost any consumer need can be met by a cooperative.
Producer Cooperatives are owned by people who produce similar types of products — by farmers who grow crops, raise cattle, or milk cows, or by craftspersons or artisans. By banding together, cooperating producers leverage greater bargaining power with buyers. They also combine resources to more effectively market and brand their products, connecting them to customer values. Pachamama Coffee is a producer co-op organized to roast and brand its members' coffee.
Worker Cooperatives are owned and governed by the employees of the business. They operate in all sectors of the economy and provide workers with both employment and ownership opportunities. Examples include food processing companies, employee-owned food stores, restaurants, taxicab companies, sewing companies, timber processors and light and heavy industry.
Purchasing and Shared Services Cooperatives are owned and governed by independent business owners, small municipalities and, in some cases, state governments that band together to enhance their purchasing power, lowering their costs and improving their competitiveness and ability to provide quality services. They operate in all sectors of the economy.
While our diversity makes us stronger, all cooperatives share the same core principles. These principles unite us. While our outcomes might be different, our purpose and foundations are the same. All cooperatives follow seven internationally recognized principles:
With these guidelines anyone can form a cooperative and doing so in your community can be a revolutionary act. Pachamama Coffee is proud to be the first farmer owned coffee cooperative in the United States and hopes that in the ground that we break seeds of other cooperatives can be sown. We encourage you to engage with cooperatives in your community. Ask yourself, as a consumer, what needs do I have that can be met by a cooperative? When you engage with cooperatives in your community you become a part of a global community and movement building a more economically sustainable and equitable world.
]]>As a company we believe that coffee connects communities across all walks of live and it is within our capacity to facilitate this connection, both globally and locally. Being owned by coffee farmers in Latin America and Africa, Pachamama works to highlight those communities and cultures and celebrate them here in the Sacramento region when possible.
Our goal each year by hosting events like this is to build our community connections with local small businesses and vendors as well as musicians within the community. This year, Sac City Stems, Berry and Thyme, 1837 Vegan, Lingers Candles and Tessa Scott joined Pachamama Coffee for an morning filled with community.
Live music was provided by Jakhari Smith, Beti Masenqo and The Band Muze.
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This isn’t the typical thing your mind goes to when you think about coffee. But in the hills of Huatusco Mexico, the Andes of Peru, the volcanic mountains in Guatemala, forests of Nicaragua and Ethiopia that’s what Pachamama Coffee’s farmer owners are achieving in their dedication to shade grown and organic farming.
This isn’t to say all coffee farming is made the same. Like many other crops, coffee, especially industrial farms, can lead to the degradation of the land, water sources, forests and loss of biodiversity. When Pachamama was founded by revolutionary coffee farmers around the world, they not only sought a better price for their coffee but a way of ensuring their land was productive and healthy for generations to come.
Organic and shade grown farming is different. Instead of clear cutting forests to plant crops, farmers work with the shade canopy to foster a symbiotic relationship with nature to grow and cultivate coffee and many other plants to feed their families and diversify their incomes.
By preserving natural ecosystems and shade canopy forests, farmers are growing a better crop of coffee AND the techniques they use draw carbon, the biggest climate change contributor, back to the soil and out of the atmosphere. In recent decades this type of farming has come to be renowned as regenerative agriculture, but our farmers have been practicing this for generations through native cultivation and indigenous land practices. For our farmer owners, it isn't about following the trends and new movements in agriculture but a continuous commitment to the land and our planet for a better future for the generations after us.
In a recent article by Conservation International, they highlighted one of the many ways that small holder farmers in Peru are utilizing the same techniques our farmer owners are using to stop the spread of deforestation, rebuild Peruvian ecosystems and create bird-friendly (and biodiversity preserving) coffee.
“As the canopy returns to places that were once deforested, so does the wildlife. And by farming in a way that maintains the plants, trees and fungal networks of this ecosystem, coffee growers are fueling a natural engine for storing climate-warming carbon.”
Non-organic agriculture requires chemical pesticides and fertilizers that actively disrupt the many natural systems. It can harm plants, animals and water sources that are not intended to be the target but are in fact impacted deeply. These chemicals can run off into streams and infect the clean drinking water for the animals in surrounding areas, as well as the access for families and the rest of the community. In addition, pesticides are shown to decrease bee populations that are crucial to the pollination and production of coffee cherries.
Coffee farmer and Pachamama Owner at La Union Regional in Huatusco, Mexico, Joel Carlos Fernandez shared
“I don’t want myself or my family to get sick by harmful chemicals, It not only hurts ourselves, but the land that produces what we consume, the animals we share the space with, the water we drink.”
As climate change begins to alter the expected rainfall patterns, heat waves, frost and more that coffee farmers are experiencing, shade grown production is a way for farmers to weather proof their fields.
In research done analyzing shade grown production and producer livelihoods, Dr. Johanna Jacobi, Assistant Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich stated “ shade-grown agroforestry approaches for growing coffee will become even more important with the ongoing climate crisis”…. as “more extensive dry spells are expected. Then, keeping moisture in the soil will be critical.”
All this to say the list can go on and on over the benefits of growing organic and shade grown coffee; to produce a better cup of coffee for you and a better more sustainable future for coffee farmers and for the planet.
You’ll notice on almost every label of Pachamama Coffee there is an animal depicted in the art. These were chosen and designed in part with our farmer owners to highlight the unique biodiversity of their region that we are striving to keep safe and thriving for generations to come through intentional coffee growing.
As a consumer you have a choice when you go to the grocery store or a coffee shop to choose something better for your own health and better for all of those involved throughout the supply chain. Our hope is to bring light to better ways of doing business by buying your products with the planet and people in mind. Next time you enjoy a cup of Pachamama Coffee you can sip slowly with the knowledge that your choice has a beneficial lasting impact.
]]>Our recipe requires
We made our own coffee liqueur using this recipe from PlantYou.
Save your coffee grounds from your morning coffee and pour in vodka, let rest for at least 30 minutes and then strain and store.
In a shaker or blender, mix in
If you're feeling extra like we were, take your glasses and rim them with chocolate and your crushed peppermint before pouring in your shaken or blended espresso martini. This is the perfect holiday cocktail to impress your guests.
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The Sactown Blend is an ode to all our customers, supporters and the vibrant coffee town that is Sacramento. We were welcomed with open arms into this community and it has been a blessing to see this town and this blossoming coffee scene grow. Today, we have five cafés across the region serving up our farmers’ very best organic coffee.
Meet the Sactown Blend
Roaster Kyla Whitley sat down to talk about the new blend and what makes it so special.
“This blend is great for the holidays and sharing with loved ones. Warm, sweet, and strong: like a good hug! It is extremely approachable so whether you are a coffee snob or just a casual drinker you’ll find the perfect cup with it.
We started building this blend with a base of our crop from Huatusco, Mexico, which has been absolutely outstanding this year. The Mexico brings a sweetness to the cup that we balanced out with the luscious taste of chocolate from Guatemala crop and the deep fruit notes that rise in the Natural Process Ethiopia Sidama. To finish it off and round out the blend we added the earthy body from the cup of Ethiopia Yirgacheffe
Sactown is a balanced cup with a strong body and sweet finish; not too light for dark roast lovers and not too dark for our light roast crowd."
How to Brew
The beauty of this blend is that it was made to shine no matter how you choose to brew! Kyla recommends a classic pour over. Follow along with our Brew Guide to make the perfect pour over every time.
If you have a home espresso machine, this blend is perfect to bring forward a well balanced fruity and chocolate espresso shot that you’ll die for every morning. Try it out and let us know what you think.
]]>"What’s special about this cafe is a co-op amongst co-op. It’s the first time ever we’re having a cooperatively owned cafe, that being a farmer owned coffee shop inside a consumer owned grocery coop.
We’re shrinking supply chains to the point that consumers can buy directly from farmers, supporting the community they live in as well as the communities that we get the coffee from."- Chief of Retail, Cruz Conrad states in a segment with Theo Bernados.
Watch the full video shot by Aaron Yabes here:
]]>With this new packaging we wanted to give our customers better choices to reduce their single use waste and push forward our commitments to better business. We are thrilled to have found an option to join the fight to end single use waste.
Biotre 2.0: What is it and why is it better?
Our team concluded the best option on the market is the Biotrē 2.0 coffee bags. This packaging option is solely made out of plant based and renewable resources that allow it to break down more readily, and quicker than any plastic products.
The outside of the bag is made completely from wood pulp, which breaks down in a home compost pile within 12 weeks. The interior layer is made of a non-biodegradable film composed of 100% plant based renewable resources. This means that rather than sourcing from petroleum based plastic, the Biotrē 2.0 bag ensures a cleaner method to keep your coffee fresher for longer. Featuring a degassing valve and resealable tin tie, this exact model is the best of both worlds; equally designed to keep your coffee at its freshest with smart, sustainable design.
While Biotrē 2.0 may not be fully compostable yet, we believe that this is the best step we can take to continue our fight forging a more sustainable future for coffee farmers and coffee consumers.
“Home Compostable”: What does this mean and how is it different from municipal/industrial composting?
Industrial compostable is when municipal districts pick up greenwaste one a week along with trash and recycling. Green waste such as lawn clippings, leaves, food waste, etc. is taken to be processed into compost. Check your local municipal website to see if your city does industrial composting and what benefits citizens can enjoy!
Home compost is when you compost at home, rather than relying on city pick up. Instead of throwing it into the waste bin for compost you can do this process in your own backyard. In a healthy compost pile, the Biotrē 2.0 bag will biodegrade in around 100 days.
How to compost the Biotrē 2.0 bag at home:
TIP: This bag is considered “browns” which includes dry materials like paper, sawdust, cardboard, and leaves. A healthy compost bin should have a ratio of “greens” (food scraps, coffee grounds, and lawn clippings) and “browns.” We recommend a ratio of 2:1, greens to browns. Your local municipality should have backyard composting instructions if you live in a special climate.
TIP: Did you know that small pieces of trash (like the degassing valve, tin tie, and bioplastic liner) can be consolidated and captured into bigger materials like bottles or small plastic bags? Stuffing smaller trash into a tied bag or bottle prevents it from entering waterways and ultimately finding its way to the ocean.
If you don’t have a yard or access to a home compost pile, get to know your local community gardens, urban farms, neighbors and even certain non-profits committed to diverting compostable materials away from the landfill.
Here in Sacramento where our HQ is located, we have partnered with ReSoil Sac, an organization that works with businesses, community partners and individuals to collect compostable items to reduce waste in the community and create healthy compost for farms, community gardens and individuals. We will have drop off bins at our cafés for customers to drop off their used bags. These drop off bins ensure our customers have readily available options to think globally and act locally!
When you compost locally you keep healthy soil options in your community. It helps keep organic matter out of landfills and allows a new life to be breathed into the old. This is what the future of our neighborhoods and communities will look like, building new life cycles where everything has value.
Learn more
The outer layers are made from wood pulp and cellulose from wood pulp.
Biotrē 2.0 product bags have been shown to break down into healthy compost in 12 weeks when tested using conditions from a test method called ASTM D6868. 1 the interior, sealable layer on Biotre® 2.0 is made of a plant-based, renewable resource, sugar cane.
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From the beginning we've been committed to building a sustainable future for coffee from the farm all the way to the cafe. As the first 100% farmer owned coffee roaster, equity and sustainability has been on the forefront of our mission. Our award winning business model ensures small scale coffee farmers receive equitable compensation for their coffee and prioritizes sustaining ecosystems through certified organic and shade grown farming. Our choice to switch to plant based, compostable packaging seamlessly strings the economic and environmental initiatives throughout the model into the roasting and retail side of our business.
Artists Rosa Angélica and Antonio Sarabia, of Azules Design Studio, developed a meaningful new brand logo, color palette and feature designs through collaboration with our farmer-owners, directors and team members to reflect the 20 years of work put into Pachamama to power us forward through the next 20 and beyond.
“We wanted to honor our origins and continue our commitment and understanding that the future of coffee will depend on sustaining a harmonious relationship with nature” - Azules Design Studio
“Our dream is to put a face to the roasted coffee, more than just being commodity producers." said Carlos Reynoso, VP of Pachamama Coffee, GM of Manos Campesinas in Guatemala.
In the early days, Pachamama sought to put a name and face to the coffee you drink each morning showing our customers one face behind each morning cup, but coffee is much more than just one farmer and face. Coffee is a community project, and it should reflect the people and the places used to produce this highly coveted beverage. Good coffee takes time and it is cultivated through an intertwining system of labor and the environment. While we are moving away from our original branding, we are using this moment, as a vertically integrated coffee roaster, to use art to tell the whole story of coffee and the revolutionary change farmers are building by owning a coffee brand from seed to cup.
“Our new logo is symbolic of our origins, our craft, and dedication to preserving our planet. It features the topography of Machu Picchu, rivers, land and a coffee seedling. Our name “Pachamama” means Mother Earth and comes from the indigenous Andean languages Quechua and Aymara. We wanted to honor our origins and continue our commitment and understanding that the future of coffee will depend on sustaining a harmonious relationship with nature.”
Rosa Angelica and Antonio Sarabia have been working with Pachamama Coffee for over 3 years now to visually tell our story with unique artwork. They are Sacramento-based artists behind Azules Design Studio dedicated to merging art, media and technology to capture the narratives of organizations, communities and individuals who dream and work relentlessly towards their own grand vision. Their mission is to engage in authentic, creative, and compelling storytelling to develop projects that uplift and inspire people.
Going into this rebrand, Rosa and Antonio dove deep into the history of Pachamama and the cooperatives that own the brand. They collaborated with our producers and directors around the world to build something that reflected the 20 years of work put into the brand while also providing a new color palette, logo and unique label artwork for each coffee. The inspiration with our new label art was to tell the story of coffee reflected in the ecosystems at the farmlevel and throughout the supply chain into your hands as a consumer, highlighting the world of coffee from seed to cup.
Each single origin label features an animal, reflecting back the story of the land and ecosystems that the small-scale farmers interact with on their daily journeys in their coffee fields that we hope to protect for generations. Our other blends highlight a different piece of the journey of coffee. You’ll see the farmers featured on our iconic blends such as the Five Sisters and the Farmers’ and the coffee roaster on our French Roast and the delight of pulling a shot of espresso on the Espresso blend.
Explore our all new packaging designs and inspiration behind each label on each product page on pachamamacoffee.com
Over the past year, our team diligently researched new product options to find a better solution to our waste when it comes to packaging our coffee. With our new look comes a new lifecycle, instead of a single use system with packaging going straight to a landfill, it can go to compost. We wanted to give our customers better choices to reduce their single use waste and, as a company, push forward our commitments to the environment.
We are thrilled to have found an option to join the fight to end single use waste. We chose the Biotre 2.0 for its plant based materials and ability to compost at the home level while also continuing to uphold the freshness of the coffee beans. This move is one step forward to balance our commitment to sustainability and bringing quality coffee to your door. Learn more about our choice and how to properly dispose of your Pachamama Coffee bags on our blog here: Composting Your Pachamama Coffee Bag
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When Pachamama’s farmer-owners dreamed up the brand over 20 years ago, they knew how important their environment was to keep them and their communities thriving. Today, with the exacerbated effects of climate change being experienced daily in coffee communities around the world, the commitment to the environment and people most affected by these changes is more important than ever. By showing consumers there is a better way to do business and buy better products, we can work together to build supply chains and industries that will be adaptable and last in the face of an ever changing world.
]]>We first met Grass Roots founder Cody Hopkins as he was just starting to build the dream of the farmer cooperative. Pachamama CEO Thaleon Tremain and Cody were introduced due to the shared pursuit for farmers to take control of their own future and work directly with consumers. We couldn’t imagine a better month than October to launch this partnership as we enter into Cooperative Month and exemplify the 6th cooperative principle Cooperation Among Cooperatives.
Why We Love Grass Roots
Grass Roots is a farmer owned cooperative here in the US. They are composed of family farmers from the Oregon Coast all the way to the Ozark mountains who are committed to growing food the right way: prioritizing the health of the planet, the food we eat and the people living within the land. They are committed to regenerative agriculture practices that “steps away from industrial, chemical and pesticide-based agriculture that degrades the land. Instead of degenerative farming, regenerative practices act to heal the landscape—farmers are able to naturally and ethically produce higher quality, much tastier meat.” Read more about the farming movement and Grass Roots values here
The Grass Roots team of skilled kitchen masters chose the Pachamama Harvest Blend to elevate the natural flavors of the bacon with the coffee’s notes of almond and caramel. The pork belly is smoked and coated with their coffee rub and then sliced and packaged to deliver straight to your door. We can confirm this is some of the best bacon on the market and can’t wait for you to try it. You can shop the bacon launch and other amazing products here.
]]>Peach Basil Espresso Tonic Ingredients:
Homemade Peach Syrup Ingredients
Step 1: Make the Syrup
Step 2: Pull a shot of espresso
Step 3: Fill cup with ice
Step 4: Combine syrup and tonic water in glass
Step 5: Pour espresso shot over the tonic water
Step 6: Garnish with basil and enjoy!
]]>This investment is an important step for any coffee company. But the weight and significance this holds for us, as a cooperative that’s owned by thousands of coffee farmers around the world, is about much more than just growth. It proves the ability to have a successful company run by those who most often are left at the bottom of the supply chain, they have the power and the access to make an investment that so many cannot. It delivers equity, pride and dignity to their work.
“Pachamama Coffee’s model is unique. First of all because the farmers are the owners of Pachamama Coffee. This not only generates wealth for our families and communities, but also provides dignity. We are the owners in the entire coffee chain, it is our product from our hands to the consumer”
- Merling Preza, President of Pachamama.
A Coffee Roastery in California Owned by Farmers in Latin America and Africa
In a world where the average coffee farmer receives less than 10% of the retail value of their coffee, the owners of Pachamama are taking control of their own future by roasting their best coffee in the US and selling it directly to consumers.
Through ownership, our farmers set the price and are held accountable to the end-consumer for a change. Pachamama’s vertically-integrated value chain is more efficient and provides better outcomes for both farmers and consumers of specialty coffee.
Handcrafted in Small Batches
This new facility houses both the roasting operations, quality control and packing/fulfillment facilities for Pachamama Coffee Cooperative, with the capacity to roast more than 1.2 million pounds of green coffee annually.
We acquired two roasters manufactured by US Roaster Corp, based in Oklahoma City. USRC stands out with over 30 years of experience, and a long standing record of quality and craftsmanship going into each roaster. The roasters will not include any automation components, an unconventional move for most growing roasters.
Pachamama’s COO, Ed Alagozian, believes “automation has no place in small-batch roasting. The training of the artisan operating the roaster is what results in a perfect roast. Roasting in small batches is an art more than it is a science. While scientific principles are utilized to understand the process, the senses of the person behind the roaster play a far more important role in determining the outcome of the roast.” Roasting in smaller batches allows more attention to nuances that affect the coffee taste profile, maintaining the integrity of the craft by giving each small batch the care and attention it deserves.
This commitment resonates with the experience from our owners, small-scale coffee farmers, that focus on quality not quantity. Family farmers rely on their experience and senses in the field to grow the best organic coffee, carefully hand-picked when the cherries are ripe. Roasting in small batches highlights and preserves the artisan effort and unique terroir of our farms in Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico and Ethiopia.
Design Features
The biggest design feature in the new space is the mural of Machu Picchu, created by the artists of R+A Art & Media. This is not the first piece for Pachamama done by the duo, in 2019 we marked the expansion of the East Sacramento Cafe with the featured art piece “La Ruta Del Cafe.”
Rosa and Antonio sat down with us and explained the inspiration behind this new mural in the El Dorado Hills roasting facility.
“The mural at our new Roastery in El Dorado celebrates Pachamama’s Andean origins, a scene of the monumental and cultural site of Machu Picchu. Pachamama means Mother Earth in the indigenous languages of Quechua and Aymara around a culture of reciprocity and harmony with all living beings. We recreated an image of Machu Picchu to ground us in the practices and the values around Pachamama.”
“As Pachamama roasters practice the art of roasting the coffee, that comes from the valley of Santa Teresa in Peru—and from other parts of the world as monumental and culturally relevant to the people who live there— we hope that it provides continued inspiration for being a part of a journey that is el café.”
Grand Opening
In March 2022, we hosted an opening ceremony with staff, long time supporters, community members and Pachamama’s Board of Directors. We celebrated the hard work our team had put into bringing this space to life and the culmination of the success of 20 years of dedication to farmer-ownership and the impact it has had for our community.
Representatives of our farmer-owners attended the annual board meeting in Sacramento in March to see the expansion of their US-based operations and were able to speak at the Grand Opening event, expressing their gratitude to our customers big and small for continuing to choose supporting small-scale coffee farmers directly through Pachamama.
“I’m really proud and this is an honor to be here, just to see the work. The scale that Pachamama has grown is directly going to impact our small-scale producers at origin.” stated Alejandro Gutierrez Zuniga, Agronomist and Certifications Coordinator for La Unión Regional in Huatusco, Mexico
Sustainability Impacts
All coffee is global. It travels thousands of miles from origin to our roastery door. And we acknowledge that this impact is significant. The expansion into a larger facility allows more storage which in turn equals less deliveries every year for green coffee. We now have the space to cut these deliveries from origin in half, and then quickly roasting and shipping coffee straight to the customer.
Additionally, when roasting coffee, a lot of smoke is associated with this process. In order to improve our emissions, we use what is known as a thermal oxidizer (also known as an afterburner). As the smoke exits the roaster, it is burned off reducing our carbon emissions. The specific model we chose from Selkirk Manufacturing employs an extremely efficient and low emission burner that cuts natural gas use by 50 percent.
Furniture in the facility is handmade from reclaimed timber from a local, now decommissioned mill, Camino Mill in El Dorado County.
Ingredients:
Recipe:
Step 1: Either buy Pachamama Growler of Cold Brew in our cafe or make your own at home using this recipe.
Step 2: Mix together a concentrated dose of horchata mix (we used Natura brand) with 8 oz of milk (we used oat milk).
Step 3: Fill a glass with ice and pour cold brew over ice about half way up the cup. Fill the remaining half of the glass with the horchata concentrate. Enjoy!
*If you want your drink to be more cold brew forward, use less horchata concentrate and vice versa!
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Pachamama Coffee is excited to announce its next café in partnership with the Sacramento Natural Foods Cooperative to open in the Fall of 2022. This will be Pachamama’s fifth retail location in California and the first farmer-owned coffee shop to operate within the doors of a North American grocery retailer. At the Cooperative Café, customers will have direct access to organic coffee owned by coffee farmers themselves.
Since 2006, Pachamama Coffee and Sacramento Natural Foods Coop have worked together locally and globally to bring high quality, specialty coffee beans directly to consumers. The new Pachamama-run café will serve both coffee farmers and consumers alike, while reinvesting in the global communities they serve.
“Serving specialty coffee consumers directly is the whole reason Pachamama Coffee was established by family farmers in Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico and Ethiopia,”
says Pachamama CEO Thaleon Tremain. “Many of our wholesale customers are consumer-owned grocery cooperatives, like Sacramento Natural Foods, who in turn represent tens of thousands of coffee drinkers in Sacramento. The best thing we can do to serve the farmers that own Pachamama is to connect them directly with the people who value their harvest the most.”
The Sacramento Natural Foods Cooperative was founded in 1972 as a food buying club specializing in bulk food products, within the year they organized to become the cooperative they are today. SNFC focuses on quality, locally grown and sustainable products. The co-op has had a café for years brewing Pachamama Coffee. The new retail location will be independently operated by Pachamama Coffee Cooperative.
SNFC General Manager Sean Eakins explained why this collaboration is important to him and the food co-op as a whole:
“Co-ops are all built on stronger communities and in turn build up those communities. A lot of the challenges we see in the food chain are combatted through relationships built through co-ops.”
Sean reflected on the co-op’s values when buying products here in Sacramento Valley, “It is about more than a farm to table movement but noticing the real people and families behind that.”
That was the draw for the new partnership with Pachamama. Knowing that expanding with Pachamama, was serving the coop's customers better AND serving the interests of coffee farmer families who own the Pachamama business and growing the impacts for the community here in the region and internationally at origin.
Cooperatives are a unique space to be in, where it truly is run, by and for the community. The first choice you have as a consumer is where you go to shop. If you’re going into a cooperative or buying directly from farmers, you are investing that money back into the community and the hands of the farmers there. You’re supporting better business and voting with your dollar what you value.
“We are honored to serve the Sacramento Natural Food Cooperative’s members with an elevated coffee experience featuring state-of-the-art equipment run by professional baristas. We strive to serve guests the highest quality coffee drinks directly from the source,” notes Pachamama’s Chief of Retail, Cruz Conrad.
Construction has officially started and the two teams have been working together to design a brand new space to better serve their customers. Plans to open the new Cooperative Café are set for Fall 2022. SNFC and Pachamama Coffee will announce further details as they arise. In the meantime, visit https://sac.coop/pachamama-cafe/ for more information and listen to the coop scoop podcast with CEO Thaleon Tremain and SNFC General Manager Sean Eakins here.
]]>We are proud to have PRODECOOP as a founding member of Pachamama Coffee.
Earlier this year, Pachamama’s Rosa Angelica Sarabia discussed with PRODECOOP’s Gender Commision Coordinator, Alexa Marin, women’s roles and programs within PRODECOOP that they have implemented to support gender equity and equality in coffee production. Below is the Translated conversation with Alexa.
Coffee, we have it in our heart, in our soul, we are coffee producers by heart, and we continue to work towards women’s leadership because we believe that without the participation of women, or without gender equity, there is no fair trade. This is why we continue to fight for a better life for our producers, and so that women are not overworked. Men, they work in the field and come home to rest.
As women, we work in the field and we also work in our home. We hope that more than the quality of coffee, we also ensure the quality of life for our producers who form the cooperative.
The programs that PRODECOOP has helped women on two fronts. One, is to know their rights, for their financial empowerment. For them to have their own land, for them to be able to renovate their fields. And the second is, the technical training so that they can learn to maintain their field. This is empowerment. It makes a woman independent as she is able to provide for her family.
Women also learn to take care of their health more. Because if a woman or a family doesn’t prioritize their health, their life will be unstable, and therefore the quality of coffee they produce will not be as high.
Cooperatives are important because they invest in gender equity so that families can sustain themselves. Because if we would only dedicate ourselves to working the land, to work in coffee, coffee is only a medium. Cooperatives are composed of people, of human beings, and so the idea is that we all participate and make collective decisions; be it in the economic, in the decision making process of our work, and have women involvement. We, as women, are the ones who wake up very early and go to sleep very late. We are involved in the entire coffee chain, aside from all our domestic labors.
I believe that organizations should invest so that families can sustain themselves. Because in families where only one person makes decisions regarding finances and land management, the same success cannot be achieved. With collective decisions, the quality of life is better for a family.
We do have a crisis here; a lot of our coffee fields will suffer because of the economic hardships for us the producers and for our organizations. There will be organizations who are faced to cut out certain social programs. This is why it is important that consumers know this so that they can help ensure that these programs don’t get defunded.
My role as the Gender Commission Coordinator is precisely to oversee that the gender policy is met. Everything PRODECOOP does is based on this gender policy that was instituted in 2008. There the work descriptions are outlined, along with the responsibilities in each role and department.
My role as a coordinator is to ensure that all our cooperative goals for women and gender equity are met: advocate for more women in leadership positions, better ways for women to have access to health services, and strengthen the gender conditions in the cooperative. I also help promote health campaigns.
We also have an assembly of women prior to the main assembly of Prodecoop. Here, women choose the line of work that they will commit to during the year and we make decisions together.
I am also a part of the board of directors for CAFENICA, as the representative of PRODECOOP, which is an umbrella organization for other organizations in Nicaragua. I am also a member of CLAP here in Nicaragua, and I am part of the CONACOP counsel of national cooperatives in Nicaragua.
My roles personally have been a bit more difficult, because I have worked the field alone, first when my children were young. It was difficult for me to be present in everything.
Today, my kids are grown up. Yet we face other challenges such as climate change, and the economy is terrible here. It is hard for us now. We are just surviving, because in reality it is a lot of work to manage the field, and the cost for manual labor has gone up, as well as the cost for food. If we have enough for food that leaves very little for any other things.
It’s pretty bad. I know that in other countries it is also the same: the high cost of gasoline and exporting coffee has also been very expensive.
As a woman, all this affects us more, as we have to fulfill multiple roles, guarantee the nourishment of our family and continue to maintain our land. Before, we were able to buy food for two weeks with $100 dollars, which is something we can’t do today. But we continue moving forward, we still have hope. We have to adapt to change, and rise to the challenge, and as women, we have to be on the lookout for everything. But with God’s guidance and strength, and our team, we have hope. WE have hope that those consuming our coffee will continue to give us a hand and invest in our life. Thank you.
PROGRAMS
Buying Land and Renovating
—Program since 2015
PRODECOOP has a program for women members of the cooperative to buy land and to renovate the coffee fields. The program extends to wives of the cooperative members and daughters.
The program to buy land finances about 2.5 acres to women who do not own land and want to join the cooperative, they can be daughters or wives of the cooperative members.
The coffee field renovation also encompassess about 2.5 acres, using the PRIMA SOCIAL (need translation).
We have to make a yearly estimate and proposal of how many acres will need renovation and how many need to be bought because we can’t afford the costs of the demand. At the moment we are seen with a big problem given that many of our fields have suffered damages. There is a strong demand to renovate the fields and in reality, the budget is small.
Cultivating Our Health (funded by la prima social)
We also have a program called, Cultivating our health. This is in alliance with the ministry of health. We, through our cooperatives, guarantee the participation of the community and our cooperative members. We take doctors to rural communities so that people can have access to health services.
This medical brigade takes different doctors with different specialties, and the entire population of that community is able to access these services, whether they are cooperative members or not. This has helped us greatly because it has saved many women from cancer or cervical health problems. PRODECOOP has also put aside funds in the given case that the ministry of health can’t provide medicines and one of our members is sick, we help with that.
Scholarship Program
Our scholarship program is also funded by the “prima social.” This program is for both women and men, but girls are prioritized for the scholarships. Once a person receives a grant, PRODECOOP guarantees the full completion of their career.
It is Delicious to Read with Coffee
We also have a reading program. This is with our base cooperative’s children and teenagers. We base this program on cooperative principles and values with the focus on gender and everything that encompassess the cooperative education.
Other Programs
Other training programs for women encompass: finances, taking care of the coffee field, credit management, and land policy.
Program to Combat Violence (2 years)
Two years ago, we began a campaign against violence, where our slogan is “I am a cooperativist, and therefore, I say no to violence.” This is based on cooperative principles and values.
We have two training programs scheduled for later this year with the health program for prevention of violence with our teenagers.
Original Spanish Text
El café lo llevamos en el corazón, en el alma, somos campesinas de corazón y estamos trabajando en liderazgo porque creemos que sin la participación de la mujer, sin la equidad de la mujer, no hay comercio justo. Y por eso es que estamos luchando para que la vida de los campesinos mejore, y no puede mejorar si la mujer está sobrecargada de trabajo porque a veces el hombre viene del campo y viene a descansar; y la mujer trabaja todo el dia en la casa y en el campo y no le queda lugar de descansar. Entonces lo que nosotros queremos que además de calidad de café, también tengamos calidad de vida los productores y productoras que formamos la cooperativa.
Los programas que tiene prodecoop ayudan a las mujeres en dos cosas, uno para conocer sus derechos para el empoderamiento económico para que ellas puedan tener su parcela, para que la puedan renovar, y también la capacitación técnica para que ellas aprendan a manejar su cafetal. Esto se llama, empoderamiento. Y vuelve a la mujer más independiente y aporta a la familia.
También aprenden a cuidar más su salud, porque realmente, si una mujer o una familia no cuida su salud pues tampoco va a tener una vida estable. Ni tampoco va a tener un café de calidad.
Las cooperativas es importante que inviertan en la equidad de género para que las familias se desarrollen porque si solo nos dedicamos a trabajar la tierra, o a trabajar el café, el café es solo un medio, las cooperativas estamos compuestas por personas, por seres humanos. La idea es que todos participemos en la toma de decisiones. Ya sea en lo económico o en la toma de decisiones del trabajo, que ahí deben estar involucradas las mujeres, que somos las que nos levantamos en la madrugada y nos acostamos tarde, nos involucramos en toda la cadena del café, más todos las labores que hay que hacer en la casa.
Entonces yo creo que las organizaciones deben invertir para que la familia salga adelante. Porque una familia donde solo una toma decisiones sobre el dinero, sobre las decisiones de la parcela, pues no se hace nada. Con eso se desarrolla el nivel de vida de la familia.
Pero sabemos que en estos momentos de crisis ahorita, muchas fincas se van a perder porque la situación económica está difícil para nosotros los productores y también para las organizaciones, así que van a ver algunas organizaciones que van a tener que parar algunos proyectos sociales. Esto sería importante que los compradores lo supieran porque también ellos pueden aportar un poco para que estos programas sociales no se decaigan.
Mi rol como coordinadora de la comisión de género es precisamente velar que toda la política de género se cumpla. Bueno todo esto que hace Prodecoop está basado en la política del género que se aprobó en el 2008, donde ahí están los lineamientos de trabajo, están las responsabilidades de cada área, están los roles de cada quien.
Entonces mi rol como coordinadora es velar porque se cumpla todo ese quehacer con las mujeres, que se cumplan los programas, porque se este haciendo realmente, el acompañamiento a las condiciones de género, velar porque más mujeres entren a los cargos de dirección, por qué las mujeres accedan la salud, fortalecer las condiciones de género en las cooperativas, es el rol de la comisión, el rol mio. Promover las campañas de salud, generar condiciones donde las condiciones se puedan sesionar.
También tenemos una asamblea que se hace previo a la asamblea de prodecoop, las mujeres hacen su asamblea, y pues ahí ellas eligen las líneas de trabajo que van a realizar en el año y se toman las decisiones.
También estoy involucrada el la junta directiva de CAFENICA, en representación de prodecoop, que es una organización sombrilla, que es donde están organizadas otras organizaciones de Nicaragua
También soy miembro de CLAP aquí de Nicaragua, delegada de mi cooperativa, y soy parte del CONACOP departamental que es el consejo nacional de cooperativas. En mi cooperativa soy delegada ante la asamblea de Prodecoop, soy la que representa.
Rol en la vida personal
En mi vida personal mi rol ha sido un poco difícil, porque me ha tocado trabajar la finca yo sola primeramente, porque los chavalos estaban pequeños, se me hacía difícil estar presente en todas las cosas. A través de la capacitación y el involucramiento de las familias.
Ahora mis hijos ya están grandes. Nos enfrentamos a otros retos, como es el cambio climático, la economía está terrible aquí. Ahorita a nosotros es difícil. Tenemos que medio sobrevivir porque realmente ya es demasiado difícil manejar una parcela, la mano de obra se elevo, los insumos, la comida. Si ajustamos para la comida, no ajustamos para otra cosa.
Esta terrible. Yo se que en todos los países está igual con esa subida de los combustibles, para las organizaciones, también los costos se le han hecho grandísimos por las exportaciones y los embarques, todo eso es carísimo, nosotros sabemos.
Y claro, como mujer me afecta, es más difícil, tengo que cumplir los roles, garantizar la alimentación de mi familia y no dejar que se me caiga la parcela. Yo creo que si Thaleon a través de Pachamama no me ayudara, yo creo que ya se me hubiera perdido la Parcela porque realmente los costos son tan elevados que uno se va al mercado con 100 dólares y no trae nada. Y antes pues nosotros, con 100 dólares, podíamos comer 15 días. Que se yo, ahora eso esta dificil. Pero seguimos adelante, sabemos que las esperanzas no se pierden, que tenemos que adecuarnos a los cambios, que tenemos que asumir retos y como mujeres pues estamos pendientes de todos. Siempre con la dirección de Dios, con la fortaleza de Dios, los compañeros que están en otros lados trabajando por nuestros. Y tenemos pues la esperanza en que los que están al otro lado consumiendo café, no nos dejen de dar la mano. Gracias.
PROGRAMAS
Compra de Tierra y Renovación (since 2015)
Prodecoop tiene un programa de compra de tierra y renovación de cafetales para mujeres socias de la cooperativa, para las espsosas y la hija.
La compra de tierra financia una manzana a las mujeres que no poseen tierra y que quieren entrar a la cooperativa, que son hijas o esposas.
Y la renovación de cafetales, igual, se financia una manzana de renovación, con fondo de la prima social.
Tenemos que hacer un presupuesto anual de cuantas manzanas se van a renovar y cuantas manzanares se van a comprar porque no tenemos el fondo necesario para todo. Ahorita nos vemos en el dilema de que como muchas fincas fueron dañadas, hay una demanda bastante por renovar los cafetales, pero realmente el fondo es pequeño.
Cultivando La Salud (con fondo de la prima social)
También tenemos un programa que se llama cultivando la salud. Esto es en alianza con el ministerio de salud. Nosotros a través de las cooperativas, garantizamos la participación de la comunidad y de los socios y socias de las cooperativas. Y también nosotros llevamos a los médicos a las comunidades más lejanas para que las personas puedan acceder a la salud.
Esta brigada médica lleva diferentes especialidades donde se atiende toda la población, ya sea socios de la cooperativa o no. Esto nos ha ayudado grandemente porque nos ha salvado muchas mujeres de cáncer, cervical contenido, porque a través del ministerio de salud se les da seguimiento, también prodecoop ha apartado un pequeño fondo, en el caso que el ministerio de salud no cuente con medicamentos y alguno este mal, uno se le da respuesta.
Programa de Becas
También el programa de becas que es también con fondo de la prima social. Que aquí son hombres y mujeres, pero se priorizan a las niñas para becarla. Y una vez, una persona, una mujer se ve becada, Prodecoop le garantiza que termine su carrera.
Que Rico es Leer con Café (3 años)
También tenemos un programa de lectura; esto es con jóvenes y niños de las cooperativas de base. Nos basamos en los principios y valores cooperativos en los temas de género y todo lo que tiene que ver con educación cooperativa.
Otras Programas
Programas de capacitación de diferentes temas para las mujeres, como finanzas, manejo de la parcela, manejo del crédito, legalidad de la tierra, en todas esas cosas.
Programa Contra la Violencia (2 años)
Hace dos años, iniciamos la campaña contra la violencia, donde el logo es “yo soy cooperativista, por eso digo no a la violencia.” esto basado en los principios y valores del cooperativismo.
Tenemos este año programada hacer dos capacitaciones contra la violencia, también en el programa de salud, se mira la prevención de embarazos de niñas adolescentes y la violencia.
]]>Kicking off our summer series of at-home recipes, brew up a Blood Orange Mint Espresso Tonic with us!
Whether you are entertaining guests or treating yourself to a special treat, ignite your coffee experience with this at-home espresso tonic recipe! Our team has been busy in the kitchen cooking up new flavorful recipes for you and your loved ones to try all summer long. Give it a try and let us know what you think!
]]>Blood Orange Mint Espresso Tonic Ingredients:
Homemade Blood Orange Syrup Ingredients
Step 1: Make the Syrup
Step 2: Pull a shot of espresso
Step 3: Fill cup with ice
Step 4: Combine syrup and tonic water in glass
Step 5: Pour espresso shot over the tonic water
Step 6: Garnish with mint and enjoy!
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What you’ll need:
First, you’ll need to start heating up your water to 205 degrees. Weigh and grind your coffee. Kyla uses a Baratza Encore grinder on the finest possible setting.
Set up your aeropress, Kyla uses a fine filter disc but if you are using paper filters, pre-wet the filter.
Set your aeropress to 2.5 shot depth and invert. Completely cover the coffee grounds with water and stir to ensure all grounds are saturated. Let the coffee “bloom” for at least 20 seconds.
Pour water to the top of the aeropress and stir again. Cover and let sit for another 30 seconds. Flip and press into a cup.
For at home milk prep, use a small pitcher and electric hand whisk. Hold the pitcher over a low stovetop heat and incorporate micro foam as milk slowly heats. This process is rather slow but makes for a super silky texture and is definitely a special treat. Once the milk is about 140 degrees take it off the heat, give it a swirl, and pour over the aeropress shot.
Kyla notes they usually split this recipe to make two ‘caps’ because sharing is caring. ☺️
]]>This easy to make recipe will be sure to impress all your guests hanging out around the grill all summer long. You’ll just need a few simple ingredients from your cabinet and Pachamama Coffee: Farmer’s Blend
Ingredients:
Recipe:
We recommend letting the rub marinate on the meat choice in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to let the flavors soak in. Cook meat to your preference and as directed by food safety standards! ENJOY!
]]>In the panel discussion “The Storytelling Behind Traceability” Tremain joined Ever Meister, Kim Elena Ionescu, from the Speciality Coffee Association, and moderator Nora Burkey, from The Chain Collaborative. They examined the history and the role of storytelling for the industry and just how and who benefits from this type of transparency.
Storytelling—or the narrative building behind coffee crops—that is seen from industry players began from a desire to create a point of differentiation during the specialty coffee boom. Players wanted a way to show consumers why this particular coffee was better than your average cup and what made it worth the high-end price. Marketers had to prove in a non-tangible way that this coffee was better so they collected information on the crop, the farm, growing practices, etc. to begin to create the storyline of what made it special. In turn coffee consumption became more than just drinking a cup of coffee, it became about the experience. Not just inside the cafe, but the experience of what the consumer felt when they were told the story of what they were drinking.
Storytelling has become a standard expectation. Meister explained that the way we buy products as consuming nations, isn't the same way producers buy products. We, as consumers in the global north, want a story to connect to a product and see why we should purchase one over the other. But for producers, it is all about the quality of the product they buy. The information producers see as relevant to sell their coffee is disconnected from the information speciality coffee consumers desire.
This begs the question then, how important are farmers' stories to marketing and selling coffee to consumers? If a roaster relies on their story, will farmers be compensated for selling not only the raw commodity but this new narrative?
If we reflect back to our own culture in the consuming North, the majority of the time when a “creative” is asked to share their story for a brand or a product, they are compensated in some way and credited for that work, but is that how the specialty coffee industry is operating for coffee farmers? Is this story now intrinsically tied to the quality of a cup and the ability to sell it?
This is where Thaleon Tremain came into the discussion. Working for coffee farmers and the brand they built (Pachamama Coffee). Tremain has a unique perspective to see the impact of this for producers. Exporters, importers and roasters are put into a position of power holding farmers’ narratives and they’re all being trusted to share producer stories in the correct way. In the last 15 years, the price of specialty coffee at the retail level has doubled.
Tremain questioned. The tangible value is what we can measure as what it tastes like; but what is different now is the intangible value, the stories about producers and the narratives coming from the top down typically. The story is what makes coffee expensive now. Tremain explained this is a threat and also an opportunity for farmers.
He continued on to say that when Pachamama was founded, the farmers saw where the industry was going in terms of sharing information from farm level, so they organized to control the story for themselves and capitalize on this as others were in the industry.
The Board of Directors is composed of one representative from each farmer cooperative that owns Pachamama and they govern to ensure farmers interests are being served first and foremost.
Ingrained into the business is the system and expectation to pay farmers more every year and budget for this increase, just as inflation happens in the United States costs rise at origin too. Next, if producers’ stories are being used to market and sell coffee, producers need to be compensated in the same way for it. One way is to work with producers and pay them a fixed rate for the use of their images and story.
A unique route that Pachamama employs is to redirect money from the marketing budget directly to farmers to share their story in their own words and create the content.
This allows them to talk about what they feel needs to be heard by the world, not the narrative that a company wants to sell.
Meister shared an anecdote about her personal time working with producers on marketing their farms. They reflected how producer narratives can be rooted in extractive relationships: the story is their own and not necessarily the place where value should be leveraged. Buyers have to be trusting the producer to tell their story in the way that they (the producer) feels is appropriate, it might not be what we (marketers) want to hear but we also have to accept that.
Meister reflected that, growing coffee can be just a job for producers, but in specialty coffee we have created a pressure for passion, lineage and deeper meaning in growing coffee without accepting the history of disenfranchisement.
As an industry we have to reframe and challenge expectations to listen more to producers. Like Tremain said, to trust producers to share their own words in the ways they want to and compensate them for that marketing directly from origin.
Consumers do not understand the story because as an industry we have been “sugar coating” and not telling the true story. The real story is still one of hardship and is rooted in power dynamics that we often try to wash away with these stories of exceptionalism. It is in everyone's interest to get more money back to farmers and also more power back to the producers. Sustainability means it is equitable for everyone along the supply chain not just when it is convenient to do so, but today and forever into the future.
Ionescu wrapped up the discussion:
“Speaking on behalf of farmers may be uncomfortable because maybe we aren't representing the consumer back to the producer, to become a good interpreter we need to create two way communication for both sides of the chain. The platforms that are being built now are seeing this interest in a two way street. By building traceable platforms to benefit producers and include them in narratives, specialty coffee can begin this journey of creating more equity and compensation for the use of such stories.”
Thank you to everyone at Digital Coffee Future for starting this discussion and inviting our perspectives into the arena. And thank you to fellow panelists for their time spent reflecting on how we can build a better coffee industry together.
The process of becoming better is a long journey that will cross many paths, but only through honest discussions and reflections like this—including producer perspectives and learning from all points of view across the value chain—can we continue to grow.
We work for coffee farmers here at Pachamama. It isn’t something we just say, we hold that responsibility to serve them properly and relay their stories justly and in an equitable way. To hear directly from coffee farmers, subscribe to our newsletter.
Written by Ashley Fleming for Pachamama Coffee
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