According to the National Coffee Association, 62% of adults in the country drink coffee daily, while 70% drink it weekly. The beverage's popularity is evident as you stroll around any city, seeing all the coffee shops, ads, and options. However, many people are unaware of the way the farmers who grow the coffee are often treated. One company has been on a mission to change the global coffee trade and enlighten people about the issues they are likely unaware of.
"I've seen first-hand how the coffee farmers are often treated in Latin America, and I’ve worked very hard to change that," explains Martin Mayorga, founder, and chief executive officer of Mayorga Coffee. "I want to elevate how farmers are treated so that people can enjoy their coffee knowing they contributed to something with a positive impact."
Mayorga, a Latino entrepreneur, grew up living in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Peru. His years in these countries opened his eyes to something the adult coffee-drinking market never sees. He saw the impact the love of coffee drinking has on the farmers in that part of the world, and sadly, it wasn't good.
Seeing how coffee farmers were impacted and taken advantage of, his life’s mission became changing and improving the global coffee trade. Over 25 years ago, he founded Mayorga Coffee as part of that mission. The company purchases have helped the farmers earn over $1 million more than they would have from traditional commercial coffee producers. That additional funding has been used to build schools, medical centers, and sports fields and reinvest in farms.
Mayorga Coffee is working to change the global coffee market by doing a variety of things, including:
Bringing the Latino/Latina heritage and culture to the forefront on an international level, helping to raise the voices of the small companies producing the coffee.
Leveraging market demand to create long-term relationships based on contracts with producers.
Working with banks to help producers receive discounted interest rate financing with Mayorga’s contracts as security.
Mayorga has seven full-time employees in five different Latin American countries. They have made a 3-year commitment to be the main sponsor of the Producer Roaster Forum, which creates events for coffee roasters to meet with and have conversations with farmers in Latin America.
Mayorga is free of pressure to provide high returns because they do not have investors. This allows the company to focus on driving value up and down the supply chain.
The company focuses on providing responsibly sourced organic specialty coffee at scale. This creates more significant opportunities for farmers while giving a broad range of consumers a chance to experience high-quality specialty coffee.
Mayorga’s overarching goal is to make organic specialty coffee accessible to all coffee drinkers as it works to scale its business to source as much product with a focus on creating a positive impact.
“The way conditions have been in the coffee industry is that small, often indigenous farmers producing it are being taken advantage of and kept out of the trade,” added Mayorga. "The more people know about the realities of the coffee business, the more they will want to help improve conditions for the small farmers in Latin America. It really isn’t as complicated as the coffee industry has made it out to be."
Mayorga Coffee was founded with a purpose and focuses on educating people about the realities of the coffee trade and how it impacts communities in Latin America. The nationally-renowned coffee brand is helping to elevate the position of small farmers. They also control their supply chain rather than handing it off to giant conglomerates, which typically take advantage of the small farmers through abusive finance terms and “gatekeeping” of the marketplace.
Mayorga Coffee is organic, sustainable, and focuses on direct relationships with essential members of the coffee trade–farmers, mills, and consumers.The specialty coffee is available online and in select stores. The company offers coffee bags, single-serve pods, chia seeds, black beans, brewing kits, and more. The company was founded by Martin Mayorga, who grew up in Latin America and earned studied International Business and Finance at Georgetown University. Today, he lives in Costa Rica with his family. Follow the company on Instagram: @mayorgacoffee, Facebook: Mayorga Organics, YouTube: Mayorga Coffee - @mayorgacoffee1358, and LinkedIn: Mayorga Coffee. To get more information, visit the site at; https://mayorgacoffee.com/
