Malagua BIO

Description

This Nicaraguan coffee is a 100% Arabica organic washed coffee, very round and chocolaty in the cup, with fascinating aromatic notes: coconut, fresh almond, macadamia nuts and honey! Yet it's still very accessible and will delight the widest possible range of consumers.

Produced and hand-harvested on the San Rafael del Norte terroir, it is Fair For Life certified: a fair trade label that directly supports disadvantaged producers and workers by giving them access to social and economic benefits. It's also a pioneering coffee in regenerative agriculture!

The Cosecha Partners cooperative 

This Nicaraguan coffee is the fruit of the work of 1,500 producers involved in the Cosecha Partners cooperative, founded in 2012 by John Gohring and Pilar Martinez. Resolutely committed to both social and ecological issues, Cosecha Partners actively helps its members.

How does it do this? Firstly, by training them in regenerative and/or organic farming practices, but also by pre-financing their production, for example. The project has also mobilized a monetary fund which has been allocated to some 50 Fair For Life-certified coffee-producing families in San Rafael del Norte: between 2022 and 2023, they have been allocated $22,000 to meet their primary needs (food, housing, healthcare and schooling), enabling them to concentrate on their farming activities thanks to decent living conditions. 

In Nicaragua's coffee sector, 95% of producers earn less than $3 a day per capita, and have no access to running water. Cosecha Partners and Fair For Life certification aim to improve their living conditions, while giving them the right tools to produce eco-responsible coffee and be paid for it.

To quote Belco, in charge of direct coffee sourcing for Javry: “Fair for Life players have chosen fairer and safer practices for workers and farmers. Their partners (buyers, distributors, consumers), by working with them or choosing their products, value this effort and also participate in making things change!”

Regenerative agriculture coffee?

This coffee is officially FFL certified, but that's not the only trump card up its sleeve. Its producers are also linked to ROC certification - Regenerative Organic Certified, a program that seeks to encourage regenerative agriculture for the soil (but not only).  It's a certification that stipulates that the roaster must also be certified for the final coffee to be officially labeled, and that's not our case. Nevertheless, it's a strong and important initiative that it would be unfair to ignore! It also raises the issue of labels: highly prized by consumers to guide them in their purchases, they are sometimes complicated and/or too expensive for producers, who nevertheless respect all the criteria. 

Regenerative agriculture aims to protect and improve the soil and its fertility. The positive consequences are numerous: improved biodiversity and ecosystem resilience, better water retention, purification of run-off water, lower CO2 emissions via carbon storage in the soil, etc. The coffees that make up our Malagua are among the first in the world to be certified regenerative agriculture!

More concretely, the ROC :

• was founded by the Patagonia brand, which works for the planet, 
• is based on an initial BIO certification,
• is validated by Ecocert and is divided into 3 levels of certification (Gold, Silver, Bronze),
• requires a minimum of 3 regenerative practices from a predefined list,
• makes the protection of animal and plant species an obligation if not already required by law
• also includes in its requirements good social and ethical practices for workers.

Where is this Nicaraguan coffee grown?

San Rafaele del Norte is located in the inland region of Jinotega, in the center-west of the country. A mountainous region made up of 4 massifs (Isabela, San Juan del Río Coco, Wiwili and Apanásen) where coffee growing is in full swing: Jinotega produces 38% of Nicaragua's arabica coffee.

The region's capital is the eponymous town of Jinotega, nicknamed “City of Mists” (La Ciudad de las Brumas) because of its cool, misty climate. Coffee trees are grown here at altitudes of between 800 and 1,500 m, in the heart of mountains with exceptional agro-ecological conditions. High fertility, abundant nutrients, high biodiversity, alternating volcanic soils (at higher altitudes) and fluvial sediments (lower down).

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