Since 2005 Just Coffee has led delegations to El Salvador, Guatemala, Chiapas Mexico, Nicaragua, and Timor-Leste.

El Salvador:

Our visits to El Salvador focus on the Asociación de Caficultores Orgánicos del Occidente de El Salvador (ACOES) located close to the town of Tacuba in western El Salvador.  This coffee grower cooperative is new to exporting and hopes that with improved economic resources, due to selling into the fair trade market, that they will be able to further develop their infrastructure both for processing coffee as generally within their community.  ACOES is a hospitable group that welcomes our delegations to tour their coffee fields, home, and the facilities that process their coffee.  And, thanks to the excellent cullinary skills of Doña Tancho, our group is able to experience the delicious taste sensation of El Salvador's best pupusas!

Guatemala:

In Guatemala we stay in coffee growing community, Santa Anita's, guesthouse, located on Guatemala's Pacific slope between Quetzaltenango and Coatepeque at an altitude of approximately 4,000 feet. Santa Anita offers us the opportunity to meet members from all sectors of the community, learn about organic coffee growing and production as well as diversification projects, learn about Santa Anita's history as ex-combatants of the Guatemalan Revolutionary Unity or URNG, and much more. This cooperative's values reflect the URNG’s 36 year-long struggle to create a society based upon mutual respect and democracy. Our delegation also spends time in and around Quetzaltenango meeting with different solidarity organizations, exploring Guatemalan culture, and enjoying the natural environment.

Mexico:

We visit Zapatista and Las Abejas coffee growers in Chiapas, Mexico to learn more about their struggle for autonomy and fair trade within the context of the globalized economy. We meet with many groups working in solidarity with the Zapatistas while in and around San Cristobal de las Casas.  And, we ofcourse take every opportunity to further explore the cultures of Chiapas while enjoying the breathtaking natural environment.

Nicaragua:

In Nicaragua we learn from the wealth of experiences of Fundasaun Entre Mujeres (LaFEM), an all-female coffee growing cooperative based in Esteli that besides cultivating, processing, exporting, marketing, and selling coffee, also focuses their work on issues of domestic violence
against women, women's health, education, and job training.  This organized and amazing group of women has a great relationship with Just Coffee and is proud to take us into their communities (sometimes by horseback!) to show us all that they have accomplishe as well as share in ritual and ceremony with us.

Timor-Leste:

In Timor-Leste we attempt to meet with Cooperativa Café Timor (CCT) to discuss Timorese coffee production, their philosophies of fair trade, and visit their production facilities. As this is not often permitted we also explore new initiatives in coffee production and exportation as well as meet with other coffee producing individuals and companies in Timor-Leste in an attempt to compare possible exporting options and business models from East Timor. By traveling to various parts of the coffee-growing region we are able to meet with many different farmers and tour their coffee fields to get a taste of what their daily reality is. In Timor-Leste’s capital, Dili, we meet with a wide array of organizations from small local NGO’s, to private companies and individuals, to large multi-national organizations such as the United Nations, and even government officials to learn more about each groups perspective of the path and ongoing struggle of the second youngest country on earth. Our delegation also spends time exploring and experiencing Timorese culture and enjoying the natural environment, both above and below the sea!

For more information or to sign-up for a delegation, please contact Just Coffee's Delegation Coordinator Colleen Coy at: colleen (at) justcoffee (dot) coop. Thank you for your continued interest and support!