Cocafelol
Ocotepeque, Honduras
Meet Cocafelol
Few coffees come into the world in such wondrous surroundings as the coffees from Honduras’ Cocafelol. Most of the cooperative’s members grow coffee in El Güisayote, a fog-strewn natural preserve containing verdant cloud forest, towering waterfalls, and unforgettable panoramic views.
Quick Facts
Location: Ocotepeque, Honduras
Altitude: 4,900 feet
Varieties: Pacas, Catuai, Yellow Catuai, Bourbon, Typica, Icatú, Paraneima
Certifications: Fair Trade, Organic, Rainforest Alliance
Preserving this beautiful land is of great importance to Cocafelol, a co-op of 306 members who each have an average of 10 acres. The cooperative’s practices reflect this commitment, and one example is its fertilizer plant, which reuses materials but really came about through necessity. When the costs of commercial fertilizer grew too high for Cocafelol’s members to afford, they researched alternatives and realized that many byproducts of coffee production—layers of pulp and parchment from spent cherries, water grimy from fermentation—could be part of the solution.
Cocafelol constructed a fertilizer plant, and the results were transformative: The cooperative now uses 95 percent of its members’ byproducts to produce 2 million pounds of organic compost and 16,000 gallons of liquid fertilizer each harvest. Cocafelol charges its members $1.50 per bag of fertilizer, an enormous bargain compared to the $50 bags they'd buy at the market.
