Roaster’s Report - Guatemala La Morena Cubulco

Source: Genuine Origin

Country: Guatemala

Growing region: Cubulco

Elevation: 1600masl-1800masl

Coffee varieties Catuai, Pache-San Ramon, Sarchimor, Bourbon, Caturra

Producer: Various women producers

Cupping Score: 85.5

Coffee Description: Guatemala owes its distinctive, mountainous topography, lush rain forests, biodiversity and its coffee to massive volcanic activity. Volcanic peaks and mountains roll across the country and carve out Guatemala’s unique coffee-growing regions. The mountain ranges help to create the country’s unique micro-climates. Together with the rich soil left behind in the wake of immense volcanic activity, Guatemala has the ideal conditions for coffee production.

In 2016, Genuine Origin created the La Morena program to give female coffee growers access to the global supply chain and to address gender inequality in coffee farming. The program started off small; we worked with four IWCA members to import 32 boxes of green coffee beans. It was a micro-lot by all accounts, but roasters were receptive, and the small lot quickly stocked out. The growers enjoyed success from that introduction to the market and their coffees and their coffees became highly sought after.

Fast forward to 2023: the specialty coffee sourcing team in Guatemala worked with over 800 women farmers spanning the coffee-growing regions of Huehuetenango and Baja Verapaz. What started as a micro-lot of about 2,000 lbs of coffee has blossomed into a platform that strongly addresses gender inequality in coffee.

Flavors remind us of Cacao, Caramel, Raspberry

Green coffee transparency: 1950lbs @ $4.40/lb, May 2024 (Commodity coffee price: $1.90/lb. Why is this important? Coffee pricing is complex and multifaceted, and sharing what we paid is an incomplete picture, but we believe in sharing the data we have available, hoping that will embolden others to do the same, with the ultimate goal of getting producers fairer pay for their excellent work.)

Length of Relationship: Genuine Origin since 2017.

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