New Crop: The Pope’s Choice 2019 - Finca La Union
All coffee has a story. And this year’s offering for The Pope’s Choice is no exception. It all starts with our close coffee importer partner, Yepocapa Coffee, and its founder, Ryan Chipman.
Since 2015, Ryan has been creating meaningful relationships between cooperative members & farmers in the remote mountain community of Yepocapa, Guatemala, and the coffee roasting community in the United States. What sets his business apart from many other importers is how he prioritizes transparency in the price of the coffees he sources. Through this process, he’s able to demonstrate the direct impact of maintaining focus on quality to drive the economic outcomes for the people of Yepocapa. His proof to the stakeholders is in the results. Better results = Better wages.
Ryan Chipman, co-founder of Yepocapa Coffee, a coffee importer.
As a buyer of specialty coffee, Reverie is always looking to source quality, specialty grade coffee. But even as important as the actual coffee is the story behind it. “What is attractive to us about the Yepocapa community is that it truly works together,” says Jason Hendry, Reverie Roasters’ wholesale manager. “We get to participate in their progress by providing valuable feedback directly to the farmers.”
For the last two years, The Pope’s Choice has been a coffee imported through Yepocapa Coffee. We’re proud to be able to provide steady support each year to our small importers which allows them to continue growing their commitment to the farmers. Each year has been a great experience, but this year carries an even better story.
Yepocapa Coffee was planning to import three containers of coffee. Some of the top producing farms suffered a tremendous loss due to the unusually high levels of volcanic activity. Ryan was unable to fill his third container; they were about 160 sacks of coffee short of a full container. That’s about 24,000 pounds shy of their goal. Don Timoteo, a contributing farmer to the local cooperative, had a connection with a neighboring farming community that may be interested in exporting. Until this point, the farmers at Acatenango, Guatemala, had never sold coffee outside the traditional commodity channels.
Don Mingo, farm manager at Finca La Union in Acatenango, Guatemala (2018). Photo by Reverie Roasters.
In November 2018, in the early days of harvest, we traveled to Guatemala to visit Ryan and the farmers of the Yepocapa community. We visited the Acatenango farms and met with their farmers to discuss plant health and opportunity with the members of the Yepocapa cooperative. What we didn’t know is that this meeting would set the stage for this awesome outcome. We were all able to see the care and quality of the coffee production first hand. And later, when negotiations began, Ryan learned of the value placed in the farmers. Finca La Union was doing all they could to provide living wages for their growers and help. And through this new partnership between the two communities, their first-ever coffees were exported directly to the United States. And we’re proud to say that Reverie purchased 50 sacks of this special lot which is now being served as The Pope’s Choice, our flagship drip coffee, in-store, on our bars as well as in the various wholesale customer locations across the region.
One of the farmers, Don Timoteo, had a solution. Don Timoteo has a connection with another farm in Acatenango, Guatemala and Ryan said that they should visit them. Ryan was concerned, although the coffee will be great, that the farm may not be paying its workers living wages. When Yepocapa met with Finca La Union they were very impressed with what they heard and saw. Not only was the growing model very good, but their model for the workers was just as impressive.
“Otto and Mayra Higueros, the uncle and niece owners, really understand that coffee isn’t just a business and that it can be used as a tool to build something beautiful. Otto, the uncle farmer, kept talking about sowing seeds. He believes it’s his job to sow seeds of love into those around him in how he treats them, provides for them and interacts with them. These seeds grow and the people around him help to see his farm become prosperous.”
Otto Higueros, Ryan Chipman, Mayra Higueros & Don Timoteo, pictured left to right. Photo courtesy Yepocapa Coffee.
As you can imagine, Yepocapa Coffee, Finca La Union, Reverie Roasters and the Yepocapa cooperative are truly making a great story: people working together, growing better coffee and brewing better coffee for you to enjoy!
For additional information regarding Yepocapa Coffee and building better relationships, visit their blog.