Key origin info:

Producer: Around 180 small producers of El Zapoteco (previously known and Los Machos) association in Oaxaca region

Region: Oaxaca, Mexico
Altitude: 1300 - 1700 masl

Varietals: Mundo Novo, Typica & Bourbon
Process: Washed

Cup profile: Creamy, nutty milk chocolate & flame raisin

About the Community Espresso range:

Our coffee offering is all about showcasing fresh in-season single-origin coffees while sharing stories of their origins and producers. With our house espresso, consistency of flavour profile all year around is paramount whilst ensuring freshness. With our community espresso we want
to bring in a little more variety in flavour and change up the coffee’s origin every few months whilst putting forward the great work that goes into producing coffee as part of a community within a certain region.

Coffees we are showcasing as part of this series are sourced from communities and projects run or supported by our trusted exporting/importing partners – Falcon Speciality in Peru, Primavera Coffee in Guatemala and Raw Material in Mexico, all with coffee growing communities at heart. The key element linking all these coffees is the aim to maximise value for growers through quality regional lot selection, whilst investing back in their communities and safeguarding the environment.

Our community espresso celebrates the hard work of these producer groups whilst bringing you a flavour profile suited for classy espresso based drinks – black and with milk. Expect a coating creamy body, milk chocolate and just the right amount of subtle fruit notes characteristic of the coffee’s origin to liven up the cup.

More about El Zapoteco (previously known as Paraje Los Machos):

This coffee has been sourced with the help of our importing partner Raw Material whose work in Mexico focuses on improving the overall profitability of coffee production in Oaxaca and Chiapas by increasing yields, improving quality and building a stable demand and access to speciality coffee markets.

This lot is produced by El Zapoteco group in the Oaxaca region in the southern part of Mexico. The group consists of some 180 coffee producing families in the Sierra Juárez ares led by Romulo Chavez. As the RM team explains, most members of the association are of Zapotec heritage and speak Spanish as second language after Zapoteco. There is a very strong, communal aspect to Los Machos across its three towns that is deeply rooted in the historical ties of the community to the region.  The group was previously known as Paraje Los Machos but after the founding member passed away last year, some changes to the group’s structure needed to be implemented and with them came the new name El Zapoteco - celebrating the group’s Zapotec heritage.

The average farm size is less than one hectare of coffee and produces between 100 and 150 kilos of parchment per year. Rather than employ pickers during the harvest, when a member’s coffee is ready to be picked, several neighbours will help the producer to harvest their coffee and they then return the favour later. The coffees are pulped and fermented, often in hand built, wooden tanks, then dried on 'petates' - traditional woven mats.

Romulo has been working for several years now to establish direct relationships with buyers in order to obtain higher prices for the producers whilst fostering a strong sense of community for the association and its producers. There is a huge potential for quality in the region and by working closely with Romulo the RM team aims to build upon Romulo's work and establish lasting relationships between the group and like-minded roasters.

We are excited to welcome this delicious coffee back for the third season as part of our seasonal community espresso offering!

About Raw Material’s work in Mexico:

Oaxaca is the main geographical area of RM's work in Mexico as there is little support or formal coffee infrastructure in Oaxaca. Farms are isolated and widespread and because of this Oaxacan production yields are some of the lowest in Mexico. The main areas of focus are improving production yields by training, building demonstrative fields, and improving soil health while raising coffee quality, and building stable demand and access to speciality market by connecting roasters with producers. 

To achieve these goals, in 2020 RM focused on meeting producers, building trust and setting a baseline for coffee pricing and pre-financing. This is done by paying a base price at the market level upon reception of the coffee, followed by second payment based on cup quality bringing the final price to 1.5 -2 times of the standard market rate. This is expected to increase to up to 5 times the standard price for some lots as overall quality improves. Paying in this way provides rapid, predictable returns on investment made by producers. 

In future, RM are also planning to work with the Oaxacan associations to develop more communal infrastructure (e.g. centralised composting systems), expand their operation in Chiapas region as well as identify potential projects for roasters to support directly.