2014 Reflections and Looking ahead

With a new year on the horizon, it’s a great time to pause and reflect on the first full year of operation. 

We launched Zion Coffee Co to advance the lives of small coffee farmers and their surrounding communities.  Our first year was full of new experiences, all amazing, fulfilling, challenging, exhilarating, tiring and humbling. 

2014 was an opportunity to bring people together on both sides of the cup.

On the consumer side of the cup, we focused on educating our customers by sharing farmer stories through outstanding, high quality coffees.  Without a brick and mortar presence, we served consumers through online coffee sales, cupping events, partnerships with local organizations, and pop-ups.

From the farmer’s side of the cup, we invested in agricultural training for coffee producers and educational programs for their families.  We purchased a coffee pulping machine to increase processing of newly picked coffee berries.  We also helped finance the building of a new, dry storage facility to maintain quality until the coffee is shipped.  During our trip to Guatemala in April, our family picked coffee berries, built a canopy for coffee seedlings and treated coffee plants to prevent roya (coffee rust).  In December, we provided additional funding to help farmers replace over 2,000 coffee trees previously killed by roya.

As we look ahead, we are excited about our plans for 2015.  In January, we will be introducing our first coffee from Nicaragua.  We will be partnering with a co-op in Jinotega to invest in educational programs for children of the coffee farming families.   Our plan for next year also includes an origin trip to Central America, to continue to build relationships and get to know the farmers’ needs firsthand. 

We are most excited to announce that we will be opening a retail coffee shop in 2015.  We are still working through the details of location and timing, but we know this is the next step in our journey to bring people on both sides of the cup together.  

Thank you for an incredible 2014.  We appreciate everyone’s belief in the vision and your continued support in helping small coffee farmers.  

We love people.  We love coffee.  Welcome to Zion.  

The Other Side of the Cup

Earlier this month, our family traveled to Guatemala to spend a week with the small coffee farmers we support.  The purpose of our trip was to live with and work alongside the farming families, learn about the coffee process and most importantly, build relationships that we hope will continue to grow stronger through the years. 

 

We launched Zion with a simple dream to advance the lives of small coffee farmers and their surrounding communities.  Spending the week in rural Guatemala, hearing first-hand about the struggles of the coffee producers and working in the fields energized us even more to pursue this dream with great passion. 

Every cup of coffee has a story.  And that story starts with the farmer. 

Follow along as we share “the other side of the cup”. 

Zion Community : : Projects

Our vision for Zion Coffee Co is to advance the lives of small coffee farmers and their surrounding communities.  Since our launch just a little over a month ago, we have been overwhelmed by the support of those who connect with that vision and who are willing to be part of a community gathered around the love of people and coffee. 

As we’ve shared in the past, our first partnerships are with small coffee farmers in Guatemala.  We are excited to give you an update on some of the projects Zion is supporting in the Huehuetenango and Antigua regions, working directly with multiple coffee coops.  

Our initial project was to provide funding toward microloans and seed capital for equipment and tools for the farmers of Huehuetenango.  Not long after working with the coop in that region, we were informed of needs in the Santa Anita community in Antigua. 

There, our first project was providing repairs for their wet-mill coffee processing facility (beneficio humedo).  While the farmers are struggling with roya (a leaf fungus, causing rust in crops) in this year’s harvest, they are hopeful and anticipating an increase in production during and following the 2014-15 harvest.  A functioning beneficio will be critical in allowing the farmers to wet-mill large volumes of coffee onsite. 

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With Zion’s support, the following repairs have been made to the beneficio: 

  • Partial replacement of corrugated tin roof
  • Partial replacement of rotten support beams
  • Replacement of PVC tubing (for passing of water and coffee)
  • Cleaning and repainting of fermentation and coffee washing tanks
  • Connection of electrical supply to power pulpero (wet-milling machine)

A second project we invested in was the construction of the dry store building (bodega).  This will allow for onsite storage of green coffee and to prevent issues with mold due to excess humidity.  Here are some pictures of the new bodega you were a part of building to support these farmers.

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We are truly humbled to share this progress with you.  Remember, with each bag of coffee you purchase, you too are a part of these coffee farmers’ life stories! 

Stay tuned for future updates on how the community of Zion is impacting the lives of small coffee farmers in Guatemala. 

We love people.  We love coffee.  Welcome to Zion. 

#ZionLaunch Event

You are invited to a preview of Zion Coffee Co. We are excited to share our vision to advance the lives of small coffee farmers and their surrounding communities. Join us to hear about our first coffee project with the Huehuetenango community, our collaboration with Thirty-Thirty Coffee Co. and our family's upcoming visit to Guatemala to learn about the personal stories of our partnering coffee farmers.

Come sample and purchase a few bags of coffee to enjoy with friends and family. We look forward to seeing you there!

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