Earlier this year, Mozzo journeyed to Honduras to meet SolCafe, a collective of small coffee producers in the western part of the country. This trip served a profound purpose – to personally witness the real-life impact of the school development project that has been a focus of our C2C Fund efforts during 2023-24. Throughout the 5-day trip, we explored the rural landscapes and ecosystems of the country, connected with passionate coffee-farming communities, and immersed ourselves in a land where coffee has woven itself into the very tapestry of the nation’s culture.
C2C Fund Contributes to Help Rebuild Schools
At the beginning of 2023, Mozzo joined hands with SolCafe and contributed to a crucial school infrastructure project in the coffee-producing regions of San Juan and Intibuca, where education and healthcare are very limited.
How Does the C2C Fund Contribution Work?
Since day one, we’ve committed to doing coffee business better. The C2C Fund is Mozzo's way of ensuring that every purchase of our coffee delivers a positive impact to the coffee-growing communities. Never settling for a one-size-fits-all approach, we recognise that each community is truly unique with its own set of challenges and needs. That’s why our investment into the fund always goes directly to our partner cooperatives who then have the power to decide the most effective ways of utilising the funds.
Once SolCafe received the C2C Fund funding, the producer’s associations agreed to invest in the local school infrastructure.
About SolCafe
On a mission to connect high-quality coffee producers with specialty coffee markets, Wendell and Gelen started SolCafe back in 2019. The collective serves 11 communities and works with 600 farmers from Intibuca, San Juan, lempira, Las Pas and Copan departments. Each member is a smallholder producer with an average farm size of 4 hectares.
Our journey began with a visit to the SolCafe’s headquarters. There, we connected with Wendell and Gelen and immersed ourselves in the intricate nuances of Honduras coffee production and life – from learning more about the business operations to cupping coffees from different regions of Honduras.
Honduras Coffee
Even though Honduras has been recognised globally as one of the largest Arabica producers, it only recently achieved specialty coffee status. The battle against Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) has been particularly formidable across the country. During the trip we learnt that in this landscape, smallholder farmers practising organic farming face limited access to resources that could mitigate the CLR’s impact, making growing coffee hard in the region.
Beyond the Classroom and the C2C Fund Investment
During our trip, we visited 4 schools that have benefited directly from our C2C Fund investment. For Mozzo the objective was to witness the real-life impact of the investment.
With your support, C2C Fund was able to help facilitate the following:
- Construction of three extra classrooms and redevelopment of student toilets for Escuela Brisas De Erayocla, a school for 67 students, aged 5-13.
- Expand the educational opportunities for children in the community, so that more children can attend the Escuela Brisas De Erayocla.
- Lay a new patio for children to play on and ceramic the canteen facilities at Escuela Brisas De La Virgen, a school for 62 students.
- Replace the 22-year-old leaking roof for Escuela Nuevo Desperation, a school for 38 students, aged 6-13.
- Build 3 metal gates for children’s safety at Julian Sanchez Dominguez, a school for 69 students between 4-13.
A Journey of Coffee, Community, and Connection
The trip served as a powerful testament to our core values of coffee, community, and connection – bringing people together through a shared belief and dedication to doing coffee business better. Immersing ourselves in the lives of these communities even if just for a few days, allowed us to deepen our relationship with SolCafe and their communities beyond the realms of coffee business. Forging new relationships has allowed us to identify C2C Fund investment opportunities and work directly with their family farms in 2024 & 2025.
None of this would be possible without you. Every coffee you’ve bought, and every cup you’ve enjoyed across our partner venues help us have a profoundly life-changing and long-term impact on the coffee-growing communities. Thank you for being part of this. As we prepare to return to Honduras soon, we look forward to continuing this journey together.