About this Coffee
Omar Rodríguez Interiano founded Cooperativa Cafetalera Capucas Limitada (COCAFCAL) in 1999 to help him share the keys to his specialty coffee cultivation and marketing success with other farmers in the region. Today, COCAFCAL has over 950 members. Members are located in 16 communities in the department of Copán. COCAFCAL maintains partnerships with financial institutions at the national and international level. This enables them to access credit to purchase cherry from members at good prices that support their livelihoods. A partnership with Texas A&M University supports scientific research into coffee and gives farmers access to new information and skills. Members can also access education through Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras through a partnership that created the first virtual university in Western Honduras. It’s the first university tele-learning center in rural Honduras.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
The cooperative centralizes cherry processing to maintain high-quality coffee quality. Cherry is selectively handpicked and delivered to cooperative wet mills. Cherry is pulped and then fermented. Following fermentation, parchment is washed in clean water to remove remaining mucilage and laid to dry. Drying parchment is monitored 24 hours a day by specially trained staff. It takes 10 to 20 days for parchment to dry. The cooperative has built solar dryers that have 800 screens and can dry up to 800 quintals (80 metric tons) of coffee at a time. The solar dryers also provide consistent employment to over 12 people throughout the year. The cooperative provides also technical assistance and financing to help members build their own solar dryers.
