Host Profile: Federación Comercializadora de Café Especial de Guatemala (FECCEG)

By -
Kishé products
Since 2014, Partners of the Americas’ Farmer-to-Farmer program has collaborated with the Federación Comercializadora de Café Especial de Guatemala (FECCEG). FECCEG was founded in 2006 and was originally comprised of eight cooperatives and associations of small producers interested in consolidating their coffee production and independently processing their coffee for niche specialty markets.

To date, Partners of the Americas has sent three F2F volunteers to work with FECCEG. In January 2015, Michael Drankwalter was the first. During his assignment, Mr. Drankwalter traveled to eight different communities in Guatemala where FECCEG was working to conduct trainings on proper beekeeping and honey production. As FECCEG’s coffee is produced organically, many producers have turned to apiculture and honey production to manage pests on the farm and diversify income sources.
F2F volunteer Willis Brown participating in a coffee cupping demonstration
In March 2015, Willis Brown, served as an F2F volunteer for FECCEG and trained beneficiaries on marketing strategies to drive sales of their coffee brand, Kishé, in the United States. Most notably, Mr. Brown's work inspired the logo found on FECCEG's coffee. After a careful assessment of FECCEG's products and the local community where the coffee is grown, Mr. Brown recommended the use of the image of a volcano to represent the Guatemalan coffee of Kishé. 

Finally, in November 2015, Thessalonika Benny assisted FECCEG in developing a business plan and sales strategy to market and sell their products in the U.S. Additionally, prior to her assignment, Ms. Benny hosted FECCEG representatives in Seattle to introduce them to potential buyers.

Since 2014, FECCEG's income from coffee sales has increased from $2.6 million to almost $3.2 million, making a significant difference in the lives of its 1,630 producer members and their families. Future F2F assignments will focus on assisting FECCEG with their U.S. marketing campaign and promoting their brand among U.S. consumers.

In February 2016, Nidia Gomez and others from FECCEG stopped by our office to do a coffee tasting demonstration of their products and to give us an update of the impact of their work. Below is a photo of their time in the office!
Partners of the Americas with FECCEG staff!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Better Marketing and Communications to Showcase the Work of our Hosts in Colombia

By -
Image
Salva Terra Foundation has focused on supporting vulnerable communities through sustainable agriculture. They work with impoverished populations and victims of violence in Medellin and aim to promote farming and develop local skills to work in the agricultural industry in an ecological manner. This process of bringing together concepts such as social impact, sustainable development, environmental protection, and food security requires excellent outreach and promotion. Therefore, they requested a F2F volunteer to help them develop a communication and marketing plan. The chosen volunteer for this assignment was Dr. Sindy Chapa. She has a B.A. in Mass Media Communications, with a Minor in Television and Art Design, an MBA, and Ph.D. in International Business/Marketing. She is the Director and Associate Professor at the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication at Florida State University and has won several communications awards. Dr. Chapa decided to use Salva Terra as one of the case
Read more

My First Goat: A Professor, Students, and some Goats Tackle Food Insecurity in Rural Guatemala

By -
Image
Two Worlds Come Together to Build New Solutions against Malnutrition What does a USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) expert volunteer group from the island of Puerto Rico have to do with combatting food insecurity in Guatemala? Everything.  F2F volunteer Gabriela Colón Rios trains Mam Indigenous women to better care for their goats which will improve food security and reduce high malnourishment rates. Chiantla, Guatemala. Photo Credit: Monica Gonzalez In March 2023, a group of five eager F2F volunteers arrived in Huehuetenango (Huehue), Guatemala, with hearts and minds set on combatting food insecurity in a part of the world unknown to them.  Over the next 10 days, this team of experts would consider Huehue, in Guatemala’s Western Highland region, their new home and office. Accompanying them on their mission would be faithful companions and mighty conduits of change: goats.  Communities in this region live at altitudes reaching 10,000 feet above sea level nestled by captivating mountai
Read more

Digital Marketing in Colombia

By -
Image
Digital Marketing is one way that entrepreneurs and producers across the globe can reach new markets and increase sales. But what is digital marketing and how can a small Colombian business use it to maximize the number of people who come across its brand? These are the questions that Zen Naturals was asking itself. Zen Naturals is a natural cosmetic manufacturing company based in Cali, Colombia. Zen Naturals develops natural cosmetics made from exotic ingredients from Colombia’s outstanding biodiversity. Through ethical manufacturing and fair trade practices, they are also taking a leadership role in re-investing in the communities that grow the ingredients used in their products. Currently, Zen Naturals supports more than 95 Colombian quinoa farming communities through Fair-Trade Practices and technical assistance on their production. Zen Naturals is preparing to launch their quinoa facial care products in Whole Foods Markets in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. in 2017.
Read more