The Road to Recovery in Chiapas

I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico with some colleagues from Royal California on November 10, 2006 to attend an extraordinary anniversary celebration. UDEPOM - Union De Ejidos Profesor Otilio Montano, located in Motozintla, Southern Mexico near the Sierra Madre Mountains was celebrating their 14th anniversary as a coop. This celebration is significant because on UDEPOM’s 13th anniversary, October 2-5, 2005, Hurricane Stan devastated Mexico’s Chiapas region causing torrential rainstorms, flash floods, mud slides and collapsed bridges. The devastation caused enormous damage to agricultural crops, particularly the coffee crop which was close to harvest. The coop provides Royal NY and California with the majority of our certified fair trade organic coffee from the Chiapas region. The people in this area have many challenges ahead of them, but are on the road to rebuilding their lives.

On November 10, our group traveled by bus, and a trip that should have taken 2 hours instead took 3 1/2 hours because three of the five gears were working. I did not mind the extra travel time because I had the opportunity to witness the rebuilding of roads, bridges and walls of rock (which are used to help prevent the mud slides) along our route. Our day ended with a late lunch and cervesas hosted by Eddie Jimenez Fernandez and the crew from coop.

The following day approximately 250 of the 620 members and their families joined in the anniversary celebration which was held in the new Beneficio. The old Beneficio had been condemned because it contained over two feet of water filled with mud due to the overflow of the Sabinar River. The walls of the building were collapsing and produced unsafe conditions. During the celebration, the executive board advised their members that they produced 60 containers of coffee during the last crop and Royal NY and California purchased the majority of the coops production. They also announced that the Beneficio destroyed by Hurricane Stan has had repairs made and will be used to store parchment during the peak harvest. At the conclusion of the meeting, we listened to the Mariachi band and mingled with the members. Several of the members are 3rd and 4th generation coffee farmers.

On November 12, our group climbed into the backs of several pickup trucks to visit some farms. While walking through a heavily shaded area of one coffee farm, I heard a crackling sound behind me. I turned to look, and to my surprise I saw a snake slithering between the coffee trees. I was trying to take a picture, when someone shouted, “Get away from there, that snake is poisonous!” The snake turned out to be a deadly Coral Snake - who would think they would like coffee too! The average farm is 3 or 4 hectares in size and sits at an altitude of 1,000 to 1,800 meters. Despite Stan’s devastation, the coffee trees are producing an abundance of cherries. The farms have their own washing stations and patios for drying. In fact, some of the drying patios are actually the roofs of the farmers’ homes. After the coffee is dried on the patio at the farm, it is then sent to the Benefico in Motozintla where the coffee is stored and the milling process is completed and the coffee is ready for export. After this part of our trip, it was time to leave the hospitality of our friends in Chiapas and return to the hotel to travel back to Tapachula.

This was a trip that I will not forget and a wonderful visit to a coop that we are proud to partner with in supplying great coffee to our customers. UDEPOM has shown its determination to rebuild after adversity and a commitment to strengthen their farms and community so they can continue their participation in the world of coffee.

Richard Borg