TEGUCIGALPA – More than 200 coffee samples of small holders from the central-eastern region participated in Festicafé 2015; which 10 win a price.
On March 12 and 13 the first coffee festival took place in El Paraiso, which includes the departments of El Paraiso, Francisco Morazan and Olancho, with the aim of promoting the high standards of quality coffees from the region. During Festicafe, activities were developed to promote small farmers’ coffee quality for specialty coffees through competitions (cupping), including conferences on technical and marketing aspects. At the same time, it aims to promote these region specialty coffees among international buyers who participated.
Tomas Membreño, Manager of the Sustainable Agricultural Improvement Project (MAS), funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and executed by TechnoServe, said “We know that coffee has become the most dynamic agricultural sector and for the rural economy. However this sector faces major challenges, which motivated USDA to finance a development project and create partnerships with other institutions to increase productivity and coffee quality for improving small producers’ incomes.”
More than 350 small coffee producers of these departments participated in Festicafe 2015; including 100 guests: speakers, cuppers, international buyers and special guests such as Jacobo Paz, Minister of the Department of Agriculture and Ana Gomez, USDA Agricultural Specialist.
“The Festicafe event is a wonderful platform for coffee growers from the region to display their undiscovered specialty coffees. This region has a very unique micro-climate with enable conditions resulting in unparalleled quality coffees. The cupping sessions certainly proved the coffee potential of this beautiful region”, said Willem Boot from Boot Coffee.
Festival organizers included CAFEUNO, the ICCO Cooperation, FIDE, Santa Rosa Coffee Exporter, USDA/TechnoServe project, Honduras Quality Coffee, IHCAFE and the Hanns R. Neumann Foundation, who are supporting the promotion and sustainable development of coffee throughout the region.
