COFFEE GIFT BOX

CONGOLESE ROBUSTA :

This AtSource + lot comes from Mr. Olive Mudekereza, a Congolese farmer and entrepreneur who is one of the largest single producers of robusta and arabica coffee in the South Kivu region.

There is origin traceability to farmer group with information across nine sustainability topics covering over 100 metrics. We use granular metrics and footprinting for the supply chain and there are ongoing insights supporting more effective and efficient interventions via continuous improvement plans.

Despite the social instability that has been present for decades in eastern Congo, the Ruzizi plain is an area with strong economic potential. It shelters the borders of three countries of the Great Lakes Region: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Burundi. It is located between Lake Kivu in the North and Lake Tanganyika in the South. These two lakes are connected by the Ruzizi river, which offers a good water resource for agricultural activities and for feeding.

OriginDemocratic Republic of Congo

SubregionLivungi, South Kivu

Producer TypeSingle Estate

ProcessingWashed

Growing Altitude>1000m

Plant Species Robusta

Coffee GradeDRC CR NAT HTM/N/M

Screen Size15 Up

CertificationsOrganic certified, AtSource Plus

SoilVolcanic

Cals Coffee is

Fazenda Sao Lucas coffee farm is farmed by the sixth generation of coffee growers. Lucas Lancha de Oliveira opted to follow in his parents’ footsteps studying agriculture and becoming an agronomist. This experience proved of great value to the family business. Lucas also served in the Brazilian armed forces.

In many ways Sao Lucas is a unique Coffee Farm. Lucas brought the dynamism of his military service and combined that with the knowledge gained from his studies which contributed greatly towards the unique chocolate, cocoa and milky qualities in his coffee, making it remarkable and distinct. On the Sao Lucas farm the coffee varietals grown are Mundo Novo, To enhance the quality of the coffee Lucas’s knowledge was fundamental in the creation of home – made fertilizers.

FARM– Fazenda São Lucas
OWNER Lucas Lancha de Oliveira

ALTITUDE– 1020 meters above sea level

LOCATION– Ribeirao Corrente, Alta Mogiana, Sao Paulo

PROCESS– Natural

CERTIFICATIONS – Rainforest Alliance certified, UTZ certified and Alta Mogiana Specialty Coffee Association (AMSC)

VARIETY– Mundo Novo
FARM SIZE– 250 hectares

SCA SCORE –  83

Producer – Carlos Alfredo Estevez
Location – Corquin, Copan
Varietal – Red Catuai
Process – Natural
Altitude – 1450-1550 masl

Cup Score – 86.75

Carlos Alfredo Estevez is a second generation coffee farmer from the Corquin area of Copan. Carlos’ parents cultivated various different crops in their lifetime, from sugar cane to tobacco, riding waves of price fluctuations until they eventually settled on coffee farming, which for their generation was fairly profitable. Carlos and his brothers inherited the small amount of land they had and continued to produce coffee, until recently when his brother changed to cucumber farming. Carlos lost his land some years ago since it wasn’t making any money and was just causing the family to take on debt.

Carlos is a trained agronomist and started out with Aruco as a technician, visiting farmers and giving training on farm management. Four years ago when Falcon started the quality uplift project in Honduras, Carlos was appointed as manager of micro-lots and specialty coffee. This has seen him learn about all aspects of coffee quality, covering plant nutrition through to innovative fermentation and drying methods, all in order to coax the most out of the coffee in the area. Having seen the success of the micro-lot project, Carlos decided to buy new land and start farming coffee again. He found land in the higher lands in the area, all above 1450masl, where coffee quality is higher. Carlos grows caturra, lempira, parainema and Ihcafe 90, some of which was recently planted and some was already growing when he bought the land. The name of this farm is El Supte.

Processing

The producers will receive about 70% of the FOB price for their micro lots. All the processing for the ML’s takes place at the Aruco mill to centralise and have greater control over the process to create consistent procedures but also to reduce the risk on the producer. The mill is also at 800masl which gives a drier more stable climate to dry the coffee compared to up at the farms where the weather can be less predictable. The coffee will be delivered to the mill where they assess the cherry (take Brix) and decide on the process for the coffees depending on space and what the producer has done already. The cherry is cleaned and washed and then floated to remove any immatures. The coffee is then taken to the beds where it is dried for between 20 – 30 days weather depending where it is turned hourly.