This story was posted in late 2004 in relation to Peet's 2004 Holiday Blend, which featured coffee from Las Hermanas.

In the highlands of Nicaragua is SOPPEXCCA, a 400-member cooperative that mills coffee cherries from small farming families from the surrounding countryside. Within this co-op is a group of 143 women specially dedicated to quality. They also pick and mill the coffee themselves - sharing techniques, labor and training within the group. The coffee from Las Hermanas, exhibits honeyed aromatics and full warm flavors, reflecting the great care the "Sisters" have invested.

The visionary behind this women-focused coffee effort is the general manager of the co-op at large, Fátima Ismael. With it she has helped the coffee cooperative SOPPEXCCA find new markets for its coffee. "We decided to create a women-produced coffee which is entirely picked and processed separately," said Fátima. "The quality of the beans has been so outstanding because of strict quality rules and many workshops that the coop provides for the women members."

In a society that in many ways is still patriarchal, this is a women's coffee, but the fundamental insight of Fátima's vision is that it takes quality to be recognized.

What Las Hermanas have accomplished is especially important in light of the obstacles facing the country: civil war, natural disasters like Hurricane Mitch in 1998, and economic crisis caused primarily by low coffee prices. Highly dependent on coffee for export cash, Nicaragua continues to look for solutions that can sustain this vital sector of its economy.

During the 2003 harvest, Doug Welsh, Peet's coffee buyer, traveled to Nicaragua to meet these women growers and participate in cuppings with Fátima and the Sisters' accomplished cup tester: Marbely Garcia Lopez. Doug cupped the best lots of the harvest at the co-op's tasting room, and found that the quality of the Sisters' cup had improved significantly. "We had ten coffees on the table, and this one coffee stood out," said Doug, recalling the coffee tasting. "It had more acidity, an elegant texture, and sweet floral aroma. You can get addicted to that kind of experience - that moment when you find a spectacular coffee. After we concluded the cupping and it was revealed that the coffee we liked was the one we'd bought the previous year and would buy again this year I felt happy and proud for them."

In 2001, Peet's introduced the coffee of Las Hermanas in Fair Trade Blend. And in 2003, the coffee was featured as a special offering, worthy of standing alone. For 2004, we are proud to feature more of this special coffee in our perennial Holiday Blend to celebrate not only the holidays but the continued accomplishments of these remarkable coffee growers. With our purchases of this coffee over the last three years, the Sisters are now able to obtain additional pre-harvest financing at low interest rates at the start of the coffee growing season, securing the loans against our yearly purchases. Our purchases are also enabling these women to sustain rigorous quality control training programs, allowing them to produce top quality coffee and invest back into their livelihood.

For Fátima Ismael, it is a vision come true to have Las Hermanas coffee beans purchased by Peet's. Beyond the quality of the cup, there is the added impact of the women growers knowing that their hard work is enjoyed by our customers. "I want to create a worldwide network of people who buy and market this coffee," says Fátima. "It is to send a message to these campesinas who produce quality coffee that they have options that they can create what they want for themselves and their families."