
Cafeólogo is a project founded by Jesús Salazar, focussing mainly on indigenous coffee growers in the highlands around San Cristobal de las Casas in central Chiapas, the southernmost region of Mexico.
San Cristobal is located rather close to the border with Guatemala, and is in fact only around 200 km or about a 5 hour drive from San Marcos Huista in Huehuetenango, where we continually work with our Guatemalan partners from Primavera. In 2010, Jesús began working with 4 small producers, but soon many others in the area were curious about the project, and the prices they could be paid for their coffee through their access to the speciality market. To be able to accept so many more farmers into the project, Jesús realised that quality control would become very difficult. For many years, Cafeólogo added value to each producer’s work through careful processing, building community wet mills to process coffee from surrounding farmers.
Community
Members of the Cafeólogo team are immersed in coffee growing communities around San Cristobal. One such example we have met on our visits is Inez Vasquez, who grew up in the community of San Pedro Cotzilnam, Aldama. Inez grew up in a coffee growing family; we’ve purchased several lots from her family over the years. As is common in rural Chiapas, Inez made the move into San Cristobal, seeking better paid work in town. Due to her history with coffee, she approached Jesús, and became an integral part of the Cafeólogo team, managing the beautiful cafe in central San Cristobal. But Ines missed home; she missed the natural rhythm of work on the farm, following the seasons along with her family, who have spent generations getting as close to the land as possible. Inez was able to realise this dream, now working alongside her family while heading up Cafeólogo’s work in San Pedro Cotzilnam.
Aldama
This full immersion in the local coffee community is impressive, allowing Cafeólogo to reflect the needs of the coffee growers closely in their work. This lot is an example of this work, a community lot produced by several skilled producers surrounding San Pedro Cotzilnam in the Aldama region, just an hour or so’s drive from Cafeólogo’s base in San Cristóbal. At the mill, Inez produces mainly honey and natural coffees, creating a wide variety of profiles. Smallholders in Aldama grow a mix of Caturra, Typica and the native Mexican cultivar Garnica. In this honey lot, ripe peach notes are backed up by black tea and a soft floral finish.