Why Ripe Timing?

Lots of political and C-market changes have been happening in Guatemala as of late. Now that Brazil has recovered from its frost, supply levels are up which means C-market pricing has begun to tank. Without better market outlets, C-market pricing is often the only option most producers are given. With high fertilizer costs and labor shortages, this places producers in Hoja Blanca in a scary position. Additionally, one of Guatemala’s largest exporters just fell apart which places the local wet mill in Hoja Blanca in an even more difficult spot.

This Lote Colectivo might therefore be a safe haven and provide producers in Hoja Blanca a way out of being locked into C-market pricing for genuinely higher quality coffees! Due to the support, we see from our roasters, we love that we get to play a small role in providing more and better opportunities for local smallholder producers. We look forward to revisiting Hoja Blanca later this year and to continue learning where we can come up underneath to support while continuing to build mutually beneficial relationships with producers and roasters in mind.

In short, it looks like we started buying in just the Ripe Timing!

Reach out if you’d like to learn more!