An initiative to support women coffee producers.

Women play a vital role, taking part in every stage of the supply chain but often handling the most time-consuming, most seasonal and lowest-paid tasks (like sowing, harvesting and sorting). Studies show that when women manage household income, there are many benefits: better child education, health, economic stability and overall family wellbeing.

For 10 years, we have been taking practical action to protect and develop forests through our Forest Coffees® brand

Forest Coffees® are ultra-high-quality coffees grown in well-preserved environments. Our trademark recognizes the know-how of local farmers and their in-depth knowledge of coffee agroforestry techniques. It illustrates the model’s environmental, social and economic merits.

Agroforestry allows farmers to diversify their income: agricultural production, timber and firewood, fodder, fruit, honey, etc. And thus reduce the vulnerability of the producer with less dependence on a single crop. The impact on biodiversity and soil quality is also considerable.

Fresh Coffee Clean Ocean: Our brand that guarantees you a decarbonized sea transport by 70 to 90% for your coffees.

Meeting El Maestro: Don Herbert Betancourt

Bolivia produces 100% Arabica, with mountainous landscapes in medium-sized land areas of approximately 4 ha per family. Producers have other products on their plots that are mostly used for their own consumption and not for trade.

YUNGAS PROJECT, reforestation and MATRIARCAS PROJECT, women's coffee

Coffee in Bolivia grows in temperate climates, mountainous landscapes, clay soil and an altitude between 1000 and 2000 meters above sea level.

Historical regions&nbsp;
Caranavi Yungas
New coffee belt&nbsp;
Asunta, Villatunari, Buena Vista

Brazil is the world’s leading coffee producer, ahead of Vietnam and Colombia. It supplies around one third of global production. Suffice to say, it calls the shots on the stock market.&nbsp;
Brazil boasts a light intensity and regular rainfall that allow crops to be grown in full sun. Most regions are flat, some are irrigated. Widespread introduction of mechanical harvesting and farming operations have more than doubled yields over the last 10 years, without increasing the planted surface area.​&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;The 4 main production areas are:​&nbsp;&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Minas Gerais (Cerrado, Sul de Minas, Minas Gerais, Mountains and Minas Chapada)​&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
<li>State of Bahia&nbsp;</li>
<li>State of Espirito Santo&nbsp;</li>
<li>State of Sao Paulo&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

&nbsp;Brazil is huge, covering a total surface area of 8,547,877 km², which is 15 times the size of France. It spreads over almost half of the South American continent. It shares borders with Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname. Brazil’s size, landscape, climate and rich soils make it an extremely rich and diverse country.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Its coffee plantations cover some 27,000 km², mainly in the southern states of Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo and Paraná, whose environment and climate offer ideal growing conditions.&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;Colombia produces exclusively Arabica, because Robusta is neither supported nor authorized by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation, the FNC. This means we cannot export Robusta because there can be no certificate of origin, and because no phytosanitary rules have been established for this type of coffee. Coffee production is the main source of employment in rural areas.&nbsp;
The coffee-growing regions are mountainous areas. 90% of producers have very small plantations (0.80 hectares on average). The average age of a grower is 53. Many producers practice mixed farming to diversify their income (chickens, eggs, etc.). Numerous local associations and cooperatives have been set up to help growers through the various stages of the supply chain: growing, harvesting, post-harvest processing, transport, packaging, projects and certification.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ed in infrastructure and technological equipment for the low-income scho

Colombia is located at the north-western tip of South America and covers an area of 1,141,748 km². It is bordered by the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. It is crossed from north to south by the Andes mountain range, which divides into three branches near its southern end: the Cordillera Occidental, the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera Oriental. To the east of the Cordillera Oriental lie the Orinoco river, the Llanos plain and the Colombian Amazon. Colombia’s other mountain ranges include the Serranía del Baudó and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Six of their summits stand higher than 5,000 metres. The different climates are determined by the amount of rainfall. In the plains and lowlands (situated at an altitude of less than 500 metres), the average temperature is 25 °C. The mountains and valleys located at altitudes of over 500 metres have a wide diversity of climates. They can be very humid, rainy, dry, and even very dry. The country’s size and geographical diversity partly explain the great aromatic diversity and the different harvest periods.&nbsp;

Ecuador produces both Arabica and Robusta. Coffee used to be part of the top ten exported products but disapeared from statistics during the last two decades while cocoa production was getting every year higher.
The coffee region is mountainous and 90% of producers own small lands (1.2 hectares on average). During the last decade a specialty coffee production arose boosted by high prices and a new type of farmer appeared taking advantage of an unique availability of fancy varieties (Typica Mejorado, Sidra, Nestlé) and special growing conditions. &nbsp;

Guatemala has grown coffee since the mid-17th century. There are currently more than 305,000 hectares of coffee, representing 2.8% of national soil and spreading across the country’s 22 departments. 98% of producers grow coffee on a small scale, and less than 1% are large-scale farmers. Over 80% of the coffee exported is of a high quality, what we call a “SHB” (strictly hard bean) grade. Coffee is the second most important agricultural export after sugar. There are 8 coffee-growing regions. The highest production volume was recorded between, with 5 million bags of coffee, before the 2011 crisis hit.

Guatemala has numerous microclimates, explained by altitudes ranging from 0 to 4,211 metres. There are 37 volcanoes, which produce a soil ideal for coffee growth, as well as numerous mountains and rivers. It is also bordered by the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The industry is segmented according to the different stages of production: growers, collectors and exporters. The growers deliver their cherries to collectors (akrabi), who own the necessary washing and drying stations to process cherries and parchment. Each collector is licenced to operate in a specific woreda (district). Growers also dry some cherries for sale to collectors of husks (djenfel), to create grade 4 and 5 natural lots. Some have their own stations and process their own cherries; these are generally farmers owning more than 35 hectares of land.&nbsp;
The collectors then deliver their lots to the ECX (Ethiopian Commodity Exchange) auction market, or directly to exporters under a vertical integration contract. Each grower, collector and exporter must have its own licence. It is possible for one person to own all licences.&nbsp;
Foreigners are not entitled to apply for a licence, but are authorised to operate as agents (Commercial Representative Office, or CRO). Those with investor status can own a plantation of at least 150 hectares and export their own production.&nbsp;

<ul>
<li>Station de lavage de Tatmara</li>
<li>Gestion de la canopée (Jimma, Kaffa)</li>
</ul>

Ethiopia is Arabica’s country of origin. It offers a rich mix of terroirs, biodiversity and practices that are unlike any other in the world of coffee. The high-altitude rainforests in the south-western region of present-day Ethiopia are where Arabica coffee originated from. Farmers still use these forests to grow coffee, in more or less complex agroforestry systems.&nbsp;
The Kaffa and Yayu biosphere reserves are now protected by UNESCO. Thousands of unidentified varieties grow there. 150 have been identified, and 35 are distributed by the Jimma Research Centre (JRC). They serve as a reservoir, a bit like a savings account, from which both JRC researchers and growers can draw to manage diseases such as rust or adapt to new growing altitudes and climate change. Wild coffee trees grow in nature at altitudes of 500 to 2,400 metres.&nbsp;
Local farmers have used their in-depth knowledge of the forests to develop original, resilient farming systems. The Jimma-Limmu-Gera, Nekemte and Kaffa appellation areas in the south-west and the Guji and West Arsi appellation areas to the south are dominated by a semi-forest system. In southern (Yirgacheffe, Sidama) and eastern (Harrar) Ethiopia, there are mostly orchards (gardens), with varying degrees of agroforestry adoption. Coffee is grown mainly in the highlands in southern and south-western Ethiopia, at altitudes ranging from 1,500 to 2,400 metres. Harvesting often coincides with the dry season, which means that all the coffees we supply can be sun-dried on tables.

Nicaragua, located in the heart of Central America, offers high – altitude coffees grown in ideal conditions: volcanic soils, altitudes between 1,000 and 1,800 meters, and a cool, foggy climate. More than 90% of the country's total coffee production is produced in the regions of Jinotega, Matagalpa, and Nueva Segovia. 
Coffee not only adds flavor to Nicaraguan mornings: it also creates jobs for more than 300,000 people, boosts trade, sustains entire rural economies, and represents a fundamental part of the national income. In fact, it is one of the country's three most exported products, along with gold and meat. 
Coffee growing is not just an export product; it is the main economic driver in rural mountain regions, generating more than 330,000 jobs during harvest season and representing nearly 6% of the national GDP. This activity directly connects producers with end consumers, creating value throughout the entire chain. 
But beyond the cup, coffee in Nicaragua tells a story of community and commitment. Eighty – five percent of producers are small coffee growers organized in cooperatives and family structures, who cultivate the beans traditionally, often under shade and with increasingly resilient practices. Many farms have organic or FairTrade certifications, responding to a growing demand for traceability and ethical origins. 
Welcome to Nicaragua.

In Peru, coffee is produced in 210 rural districts located in 47 provinces of 10 departments. The area cultivated with coffee occupies 230,000 hectares distributed in three zones, being the most appropriate region to obtain the best yields with high quality the one located in the jungle zone, under a tropical ecology. Eighty-five percent of Peruvian producers have properties that fluctuate between 0.5 and 5 hectares. Coffee grows with relative ease from 600 to 1,800 meters above sea level in almost all geographical regions of Peru. However, 75% of the coffee plantations are above 1,000 meters above sea level. The diversity of combinations of climates, soils, precipitation and sunlight constitute a propitious scenario for the cultivation of coffee. Peruvian coffees are of the Coffea arabica type, with different flavor, aroma and acidity profiles. The varieties of coffee cultivated in Peru are Typica (70%), Caturra (20%) and others (10%). 90% of Peruvian coffee is grown under shade, with an average density of 2,000 plants per hectare. In accordance with current trends, some groups of Peruvian farmers have specialized and work in organic and other specialty coffees, recognized for their profile and peculiar characteristics such as cup quality, acidity and balanced flavor that adjusts very well to the microclimates, temperature and strict altitude.

- Belco and Coopagro, carried out a project to improve drying facilities of the Coopagro members of La Palma Central village by building and installing 18 coffee drying modules and training the coffee growers in the drying process and the correct use of the installed modules. It finalized in july 2022. The goals were: to reduce the losses of coffee producers, to standardize a homogenous drying process and to obtain a consistent cup profile which translates in better grower's income.
- Belco and Coopagro, are carrying out a project to contribute to, social, and economic sustainability of this regienvironmentalon. This project is called: "Plantation of timber trees and renovation of coffee cultivation". The idea is: to avoid deforestation of the Peruvian jungle by planting different types of timber trees around their coffee plantations, allowing them to make use of this wood in a few years while generating shade for their crops in favor of biodiversity and organic matter improvement. And to renew the crop with a new variety of coffee that allows them to maintain lower production costs while improving the cup profile to get a higher prime.
 &nbsp;

Peru is located in the central and western part of South America. It has a continental area of 1,285,216.60 km², which represents 0.87% of the planet, distributed in coastal region 136,232.85 km² (10.6%), Andean region 404,842.91 km² (28.4%) and Amazon region 62% (782,880.55 km²).
The Peruvian Sea or Sea of Grau is the part of the Pacific Ocean that extends along the Peruvian coast for an extension of 3080 km1 and a width of 200 miles offshore. Its great ichthyological richness is the result of the Humboldt and El Niño sea currents. Its sovereign sea has a maritime area of 991,194.97 km², being a country with a great hydrological potential.
Peru's highest peak is the Huascarán in the Cordillera Blanca, with an altitude of 6768 masl; the lowest area is the Sechura depression at -34 m.b.s.l. the deepest valley is the Cotahuasi Canyon, surpassing even the famous Colorado Canyon; the longest river in Peru is the Ucayali River (tributary of the Amazon River with 1771 km in length; the highest navigable lake in the world is Lake Titicaca in Puno/Peru with 8380 km² and the largest island of the Peruvian coast is the San Lorenzo Island in Callao with 16.48 km². It is the third largest country in South America.

El Salvador is a land of volcanoes. There are 23 throughout the country, 5 of which are active. The country has a surface area of 21,041 km², making it the smallest in Central America. It has an essentially mountainous topography, although the Pacific coast that runs down the side of the country is flat. Its highest point is El Pital, which stands at 2,730 metres. In terms of climate, it has a wet season, a dry season, and tropical weather all year round.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Explore Belco’s complete catalogue of specialty green coffees from all origins, curated for roasters and coffee shops

Specialty Green Coffee – Belco’s Full Catalogue

The coffees from the latest harvest are on their way: sourced from long-term partnerships, but also from new collaborations with producers, they have all been transported by sail!

Want to find out more about these coffees and how the harvest went? The replay of our latest Brazil webinar is available!

Our Brazilian coffees are arriving in France, carried by the sail cargo vessel Anemos and the commitment of our teams. Discover the full catalogue now →

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Brazil arrival:
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DIVE INTO 10 YEARS OF SOURCINGIN ETHIOPIA