Guatemala El Fogon

Guatemala El Fogon: The FEDECOCAGUA Cooperative

FEDECOCAGUA was established in 1969. The organisation now has 20,000 members, 70% of which are members of indigenous groups from various regions across Guatemala, including Huehuetenango, Cobán, Verapaces, Retalhuleu, San Marcos, and Zacapa. The organisation is made up of over 150 individual co operatives that supply the coffee.

As the main exporter of coffee from Guatemala, Fedecocagua is perfectly positioned to provide everything from speciality microlots to undergrade stocklots via certified main grades. Their dry mill is in Palin, one hour south of Guatemala City. Holding capacity here is 350,000 quintales of parchment, and with such volume keeping on top of movements is very important. Each lot is identifiable through an individual code, with volume, cooperative name and delivery date. There are a number of collection points and warehouses in other locations such as Huehuetenango, which allows for the grouping of parchment lots before transporting to the dry mill for final prep and QC.

The Camoja warehouse was designed by Gerardo’s (the head of Fedecocagua) son, and is managed by Don Jose. Being newer, it has showers, lockers, laundry rooms and even beds for the workers, as well as a cupping lab and sound storage for 75,000 bags. There are 10 fulltime staff, including a Q grader. Most of the coffee from Huehue for Fedecocagua comes through this facility. A water recycling facility is in the final stages of being operational, with an on site well providing clean water and rainwater being collected and used for watering plants and grass on the site.

Guatemala Coffee

Guatemala is a central American country which is bordered by Mexico. Due to its proximation to the equator, Guatemala enjoys wet and dry seasons. With a steady temperature of 22°C and 4 inches of rainfall every month it is ideal for growing coffee. Guatemala is known for unique, premium beans, and have been exporting green beans since the 19th century. Guatemala has a high reputation for traceability, farmers and plantation owners have their own wet mills and harvest stations which allows a thorough trail of production to be known. Typical characteristics of Guatemalan coffee include winey acidity, heavier bodies and chocolate notes.

Guatemala coffee growing regions

It is estimated that the country produces over 3 million bags of beans every year. It produces varieties such as Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, Typica, Maragogype, Pache & Pacamara, and has several producing regions. These are:

1. Antigua – Known for its rich volcanic soil, low humidity, sunshine and cool breezes is what makes these beans so brilliant.
2. Acatenango Valley – The beans benefit from lots of shade on steep slopes. The soil is rich and full of nutrients due to the eruptions from nearby volcanos.
3. Atitlán – Mostly grown against the slopes of volcanoes. The beans gain their unique characteristics from cold winds.
4. Cobán – This region gets nice ripe cherries from plenty of rainfall. Labour is intense here because of the staggered flowering.
5. Fraijanes Plateau – High altitudes, heavy rainfall and varied humidity is what gives these beans their unique flavours.
6. Huehuetenango – One of the three non-volcanic regions. It’s high elevations, dry climate and inability to get frost makes fantastic speciality beans.
7. Nueva Oriente – Dominated by small, local producers. Beans from this region can be varied because of this.
8. San Marcos – Gets the earliest flowering due to heavy rainfall.