from Alex....

Nicaragua
Nueva Segovia


Every year Kaldi's roasts coffee from a large cooperative called Prodecoop, located near Palacaguina in Northern Nicaragua. Prodecoop is Fair Trade certified by Transfair, and receives coffee from 39 smaller cooperatives scattered throughout the northern highlands.

Prodecoop's office in Esteli.

Manuel works at Prodecoop's main office in Esteli and visits their partner coops often. We agreed to meet at 8am and head north. Our first destination was the Luis Alberto Vasquez Cooperative, a supplier coop to Prodecoop located a few miles from the Honduran border.

It is a steep, windy ride up the muddy road leading to the Cooperative, which sits above 4000 feet.

There is something satisfying about going somewhere which
can only be reached by 4 wheel drive.


I was especially eager to visit the farmers at Luis Alberto Vasquez because this year Kaldi's is the fortunate recipient of two bags of coffee from the small lot they submitted in the Cup of Excellence auction! Their coffee placed in the top 20 out of more than 500 of the best microlots that Nicaragua produced last year; if you've had the chance to taste this coffee, you know it is special.

View from Luis Alberto Vasquez Cooperative.
Reyno, myself, and Marcos on the farm.

Mario, Marcos, and Reyno enjoy farming coffee and were happy to show their farm. Success from the Cup of Excellence auction has helped provide better healthcare for members of the community, equipment for the coop, and more. Of course, they hope to participate in future COE auctions.
Mario is holding a small coffee tree which sprouted from a fallen seed.
Because of it's two oval shaped leaves, they call such trees cafe mariposa, or "butterfly coffee".

Our next stop was Palacaguina to see Prodecoop, the mother ship. Prodecoop is a huge facility, receiving over 4 million pounds of coffee a year. Their staff of 4 cuppers keeps quite busy, to say the least! They are constantly working with their suppliers to develope more microlots and improve quality. We always look forward to the arrival of our delicious coffee from Prodecoop.
The cupping room at Prodecoop.
The first coffee harvested this year. Soon, these patios will be
flooded with coffee beans.

The Cup of Excellence coffee from the Luis Alberto Vasquez Coop will be available soon in Kaldi's Coffeehouses. Don't miss it!