Mexico - Sipro

Notes: Plum, ginger & juniper. Sweet & complex

VARIETAL: Caturra, Mundo Novo

PROCESSING: Natural

ALTITUDE: 1500-1750 masl
REGION: Amatenango de la Frontera, Chiapas

Producer: Benancio Chavez

Context
 Mexico, our work is based in Oaxaca and Chiapas. From afar, Mexico is a growing economic force, ranked 64th globally in GDP per capita. However, the coffee-producing states in southern Mexico face a very different economic reality. Oaxaca and Chiapas are the two poorest states in Mexico with poverty rates of 60-80% and extreme poverty rates of 20-40%. Chiapas is Mexico’s poorest state. It also has the largest indigenous population and is the country’s biggest producer of coffee. The average yield is higher here than in Oaxaca, but the local market price is lower.The vast majority of Mexico’s 500,000 coffee producers are smallholder farmers and have one hectare or less of land under coffee. This makes the average annual production for many producers just 100kg, making coffee farming more and more unsustainable. This is fuelling widespread migration to urban centres in Mexico and the United States. In short, coffee production is disappearing. We work with several producer groups in Chiapas. One of our newest buying relationships is with the association SIPRO. SIPRO stands for Sierra Productora de Cafe. The association is brand new, and is the brainchild and combined effort of 9 mostly young coffee producers in Amatenango de la Frontera. The small association also represents 20 other producers, who are family members of the core 9 producers. The group decided to work together as an organised cooperative, to have more strength within the market, with better access to specialty buyers. Although cooperatives and associations can represent the interests of many producers, when they are too large they may be less effective, as every decision requires the approval of all, which may be less dynamic. SIPRO aspires to be dynamic whilst representing the interests and ensuring competitive profit returns for each of their members. Instead of selling into this unpredictable market, SIPRO reached out to Red Beetle, our partners in Mexico, to establish a direct relationship with them.Compared to the state of Oaxaca, there seems to be more machismo in Chiapas. It is Mexico’s largest coffee producing region, yet female coffee producers are very uncommon here. In comparison, Oaxaca coffee producers are roughly 50/50 men and women. Coffee as a crop is far more important for Chiapan producers than it is for Oaxacan producers. Oaxaca has a strong history of wood as a cash commodity, whereas Chiapas is very coffee dependent, withconsiderable infrastructure and fertiliser distribution to the producers here