Rio Azul Guatemalan
Rio Azul Cooperative
Jaceltenango, Guatemala
Floral Aroma ~ Cinnamon ~ Hints of Mango
The northern areas of Guatemala surrounding the Huehuetenango region have long been a source of great tasting coffees, and the Rio Azul is no exception. This small cooperative has been Fair Trade certified for over ten years, but even with this certification they came upon hard times in the early 2000’s.
With membership numbers plummeting to critical points, Ramon Delgado took the reigns as Managing Director of the cooperative. On a chance meeting in Antigua he crossed paths with The Unity Project creator Phil Beattie. At the time the Unity Project was in it’s conception phase and the Rio Azul situation provided a blueprint for how the program could assist the estates and cooperatives that it works with.
Rio Azul is a relatively small cooperative with just over 150 members.
In the infancy of this 
relationship it was discussed with the
cooperatives board of directors what the largest challenges members
faced, it was unanimously decided that the funds to acquire decent
medical attention were. So an initiative was set in motion to address
this issue. Meetings were held with a local doctor who was willing to
take on the issue, and the Unity Project provided a grant of $5000
dollars per year which gave each member the opportunity to have
medical, vision, and dental attention from the local doctor.
This relationship has continued to blossom over the years, with the support of the Unity Project the cooperative has been able to increase thenumber of Certified Organic producer’s in the cooperative which helps the local ecosystem. In addition they have implemented a water filtration system at the wet mill which better preserves the integrity of the local water supplies.
Unity Project