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The Story:
The Pangoan Coopertive was established in
1977 with the objective of exporting their coffee directly
to roasters. Dean Cycon - the "Dean" of Dean's
Beans - spearheaded Pangoa’s first Fair Trade delivery
to the US in 2003. There are currently 309 farmers active
in the organization, with most farming their own small plots
of land.
The Coop is located in the watershed of the
Amazon River, and some of the members of the Coop are a
part of the indiginous Shanika Tribe. They’ve survived
civil war, mudslides and all manner of natural disasters.
The Pangoa Cooperative built their own hydro facility to
supply electricity to their entire municipality. The small
plantations are covered with shade trees, which favor good
air circulation and help control the amount of sunlight
reaching the coffee plants.
After hand-picking, the coffee is depulped
with manual wet processing machines. After washing, the
coffee is sun-dried on the patios of the farm.
The Pangoan Cooperative also boasts the distinction
of being the world's first carbon neutral coffee. The entire
carbon load, from planting to drinking, has been calculated,
and the Coop offsets the carbo dioxide produced with hardwood
plantings by the farmers themselves at Pangoa. To date,
over 80,000 hardwood tress have been planted.
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