About the cooperative:

The Aruco farmer cooperative was established in 2006 on the initiative of 14 coffee producers from the municipality of Corkin, Copan. Currently, it unites more than 200 manufacturing partners. All of them, together with their families, are involved in production and harvesting.

Copan is one of the most famous coffee regions of Honduras. It is characterized by the lowest temperatures and the largest range of temperature humidity. The beans from there are marked with the special geographical indication (GI) of Honduran Western Coffees (HWC). These territories are part of the biosphere reserve under the auspices of UNESCO Cacique Lempira, Senor de las Montañas are considered among the most difficult to access in Honduras and in all of Central America! It is home to the country's highest mountain, Cerro de Las Minas (2,849 m) and a number of river basins, the largest of which is the Aruco River basin. The name of the cooperative comes from it, and local farmers call it a source of life. Coffee plantations with a total area of 1,700 hectares are located at an altitude of 1,000-1,600 meters above sea level. Arabica varieties such as Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, IHCAFE 90, Lempira, Maragogype, Pacamara, Gesha, Parainema are grown here. !
Aruco provides all members of the cooperative with technical assistance, financing and marketing of green grain at the international level. This approach ensures high labor productivity and environmental sustainability in production, and also contributes to the comprehensive development of families in the region. In addition, Aruco supports local educational and social projects, health care centers. The cooperative has its own processing station, equipped with modular sections for washing processing and drying. In the fermentation process, ecological equipment is used, which minimizes water consumption, and hot air for drying the grain is obtained by burning coffee husks in special ovens.

Customs processing:

The main purpose of the method is to clean the grain from the pulp immediately after harvesting. At the same time, it is important to choose only red berries that are perfectly ripe at the time of collection. All berries are sent to a washing station, coffee cherries that float to the surface (floaters) are thrown away, as they signal damage or a grain defect. At the next stage, the grain is cleaned of pulp using special equipment - a depulper. After that, the grain is dried in guardiola for 2-3 weeks until the moisture content is 10-12%. From each batch of dried beans, a sample is sent to the quality control department to check the taste profile and quality of the coffee. Grain is stored in parchment for one to two months. Before sending it for export, it is purified with the help of cholera.