Café Michel Organic Ground Coffee Honduras - 250g

Café Michel organic ground coffee: a 100% Arabica from Honduras. Certified as fairtrade (SPP label) & organic. This balanced coffee delivers both intense and gourmet cocoa notes. For a beautifully rounded cup of coffee. 250g pre-ground coffee.

Main Characteristics:

More About the COMSA Cooperative

In Honduras, the coffee farmers of the Marcala region are the descendants of the Lenca people. Although their language has been lost, most of the traditional farming techniques have been maintained. As a result, COMSA producers practice one of the most developed organic production systems in Central America. The COMSA cooperative model has spread and is having an impact at the national level in the promotion of organic coffee growing.

Marcala is a municipality in the department of La Paz, located in a mountainous area that is difficult to access. The coffee plots are located between 1300 and 1500 metres above sea level. Before the infamous "Rust crisis" of 2012-2013, the main coffee species were Catuai, Pacas and Caturra.

Nowadays, producers grow more resistant species such as Typica, a variety that has adapted particularly well to the climate and altitude of this region. In contrast to the bad reputation of Honduran coffees, Marcala is today recognised as producing one of the best coffees in the world thanks to the great know-how of the local producers who have been growing coffee for several generations. In order to protect the qualities of their coffee, COMSA, supported by the Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFE) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), has obtained a Protected Designation of Origin.

The organisation is constantly innovating in organic and biodynamic production practices and makes a point of passing on its knowledge to the community and to other Latin American cooperatives. Fortaleza is a centre for experimentation and training in agoecology and permaculture, where research on biofertilisers (biofabricas) is carried out. Producers train other producers in organic composting techniques using coffee cherries, cow manure, minerals, ashes and mountain micro-organisms - resources that are already naturally present on their territory. A team of 25 agronomists accompanies the producers in their coffee fields and trains them in the production of bokashi - a compost made from fermented organic matter that degrades easily and fertilises the plots. The results are there: the yield of the plots and the quality of the grains is constantly increasing and rivals the yields of conventional agriculture. The average yield per hectare for a COMSA producer is well above the national average and contamination is low.