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ACOES La Concordia

ACOESpanorama                 Fast Facts  on ACOES La Concordia                 
                                                                                           Represents 20 farmers
Coffee grows 650 and 1400 meters above sea level and they grow two varieties of shade coffee: Borbon and Pacas



Asociacion Agropecuaria de caficultores organicos del occidente de el Salvador de RL (ACOES)

Located in the municipality of Tacuba, department of Ahuachapan, ACOES is made up of two cooperatives, La Concordia and Sincuyo.  This cooperative is made up of just 20 families, with 15 members in La Concordia and five in Sincuyo.  ACOES exported their very first half container of coffee, when we bought 118 bags of coffee from this promising group in early 2008.  

Starting with fairly modest goals, ACOES want to maintain the organic certification they have with IMO, obtain Fair Trade certification from FLO, establish additional business relationships with supportive buyers, add more members to their cooperative, protect their natural resources, diversify their economy by eventually producing and selling other agricultural products, renovate their trees, and improve the quality of life for their families.ACOESgroupshot

Cooperative Coffees met with this coop in 2008 through a reference from Prof. Ernesto Mendez, a professor of agroecology at the University of Vermont. Mendez has been working with this group for years, and we were just as impressed by their dedication, hard work, and positive attitude, which have allowed them to survive in the tough and instable political and economic landscape of El Salvador.

According to Mendez, "members of the "La Concordia" cooperative in El Salvador were keen to learn about the ecological processes taking place in their fields, recognising the potential these have for improving their livelihoods".

Through building fair trade relationships, the families of ACOES have definite plans on how to improve their coffee production and quality of life for their community.  Projects to address the malnutrition present in their families, an ecological coffee processing mill, better infrastructure (office, warehouse, galley), water storage, and reforestation are on the agenda.

So far, their sweet, mellow, chocolatey coffee has our roasters raving about the quality of this coffee. We are looking forward to building a long lasting, mutually beneficial partnership

Read more on ACOES:

  • Confronting the Coffee Crisis Chapter 9 of Confronting the Coffee Crisis. "Farmers' Livelihoods and Biodiversty Conservation in a Coffee Landscape of El Salvador. by V. Ernesto Mendez. 2008.

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