Unión de Ejidos “San Fernando”

San Fernando is a co-operative of 934 small farmers based in 37 communities in the Chiapas state of Southern Mexico. The co-op was formed in 1984 following meetings amongst the communities who saw the problems of low coffee prices, abuse by the ‘middleman’, lack of acknowledgement of small producers by the government, and the community living in a poor state of health and well being.

During the mid nineties the co-op began to focus on organic conversion and Fairtrade certification. As a result quality excelled, which led to an increase in their export orders.

Farming and Production

Each producer has an average of just over 2 hectares of land producing between 630 and 828kgs of coffee depending on seasonal weather. The farmers also grow maize, beans, bananas, citrus fruits, chayote, yuca etc.

Union San Fernando buys, on average, about 368 tonnes of its producer member’s coffee, just under half of the amount they could buy if they had more capital. They have a warehouse to store their coffee and a dry processing plant.

Sustaining the small coffee producers of Union “San Fernando”

There is considerable coffee buying competition for the Union from multi-nationals in the region who have middlemen operating locally in Tuxla Gutierrez. The members of the Union are mainly from the Zoque indigenous group and rely heavily on the National Indigenous Institute for funding and access to credit. The region is not mountainous and the processing plant is only 15 minutes away from Tuxla Gutierrez by road.

Fairtrade Benefits

With the Fairtrade premium San Fernando has invested in healthcare, education and the environment. Some of these initiatives include:

• Crop diversification project administered by 400 women fro 19 co-op communities who cultivate flowers, organic vegetables and medicinal plants.
• Technical training in organic farming methods provided by a team of 15 experts.
• A community grocery store that provides goods to over 30 communities.
• Savings and credit programs for farmers
• Youth lodging to enable students to continue their studies through high school and university levels while far from home
• Home building and improvement programs for co-op members.
• And an ecotourism project that teaches tourists first-hand about the coffee production process.

What Type of Coffee

Fine, high grown Mexican arabica with good acidity and a sweet flavour.