PROCOCER Soil Regeneration Project

If you're SoCal, Nevada, or Arizona based, you may have seen our Whole Foods exclusive PROCOCER coffee at your local Market. Or, without knowing it, you have likely enjoyed it as part of our recipe for our Bitches Brew and Venice blends. But PROCOCER is more than a coffee to us. The PROCOCER cooperative in Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua is a major partner of Groundwork Coffee due to their sustainable farming and organic fertilizing method that captures carbon from the air and pulls it back into the soil. Formally known as carbon sequestration, this is especially important for coffee growing regions that are more susceptible to the extremes of climate change, creating a more challenging environment for coffee growers.

The PROCOCER coop maintains a mission that is easy for us to get behind. The coop has worked to strengthen their own capacity, increase yields and produce high quality coffee that can meet the demands of the specialty coffee market while working hard to diversify their own activities and improve the well-being of their members. They do so while conserving the environmental balance and natural beauty of their region.  

For 2019-2020, we committed $90,000 to PROCOCER to help with their coffee production. This included: 

• 450 tons of organic fertilizer, 
• 1,320 kg of minerals
• 360 liters of biofertilizers for the fertilization of 127 hectares of coffee.

As a result of this donation, 138 productive diagnoses were made, 115 producers received toolkits, 154 technical assistance visits were made and 181 were producers trained in production, certification, environmental, and governance issues.

For this year, we had planned to invest an additional $5,000 in soil analyzes and fertilizer production but the PROCOCER cooperative (and the world) had other plans. In April, PROCOCER requested we divert this investment to help them combat and prevent Coronavirus in their community as the farmers were not receiving support from the Nicaraguan government. This included funding for 181 protective kits for their producer families and a public health information campaign about hygiene and waste disposal. All of the face masks were handmade by members of the coop and, as of today, the community has reported zero cases of Covid-19. 

The PROCOCER cooperative is very conscious of the lethal consequences an outbreak can bring to their community and have been proactive in prevention. While they worry about their incomes month over month, especially as some merchants raise prices of their supplies, the PROCOCER coop continues to do their best to maintain their sustainable enterprises and produce great organic coffee. 

We’re proud to continue our partnership with PROCOCER into 2020. Try our PROCOCER exclusive the next time you’re at a Whole Foods Market in SoCal, Nevada or Arizona or any time with our Bitches Brew or Venice Signature Blends.