GPS Success Stories  

Central American Coffee Quality Evaluation & Market Linkage Project

In 2004, through a subcontract under the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Central America and Dominican Republic Quality Coffee Program (QCP) - TransFair USA provided capacity building and market development services to five Fair Trade cooperatives in Central America and the Dominican Republic.  Under this project, TransFair USA industry partners, and technical assistance providers Coffee Solutions worked with participating cooperatives-COARENE, FEDECARES, FEDECOCAGUA, RAOS, and SOPPEXXCA-to evaluate and improve the quality of their coffees, thus making the cooperatives more competitive in the international market. 

Project modules: Supply Evaluation and Catalogue, Buyer Needs Assessment, Technical Assistance for Quality Evaluation and Improvement, Market Linkage.

Project outcomes: The project’s most dramatic results included a ten-container increase in US Fair Trade coffee sales for the five participating cooperatives. This represented a more than 5:1 return for the cooperative on the investment during the project. 

Mesoamerican Coffee Infrastructure & Capacity Building Project

During a pilot technical assistance project supported by an anonymous donor to the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship in 2004 and 2005, TransFair USA provided capacity building services and infrastructural improvements to Compras and La Tabla, two groups of Fair Trade coffee cooperatives in Chiapas, Mexico, and Guatemala. 

Project modules: Strengthening quality control infrastructure: installation of two new cupping labs and refurbishment of three additional labs; Capacity-building: series of training workshops on cupping, quality improvement, organic conversion, risk management and financial literacy. 

Project outcomes: Participating cooperatives achieved a 70% first-year return on funds invested in the project in additional income, despite a short harvest season.  The farming cooperatives also valued the new commercial relationships that the project facilitated, and new processing, marketing and management skills that cooperative members acquired. 

Mexican Cocoa Market Development & Training Project

TransFair USA’s experience in Fair Trade producer recruitment and compliance training has been honed through a project sponsored by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism of the State of Tabasco, Mexico.  This project, which was initiated in early 2005 and will be concluded during the first semester of 2006, provided training in Fair Trade compliance and rendered market linkage services to four cocoa cooperatives in Tabasco, Mexico.  Identifying strong candidates for Fair Trade certification and assisting them in their efforts to achieve it are crucial activities for Global Producer Services.

Project modules: Market linkage: 7 buyers to origin, cooperative participation in two trade shows, US sales tours by co-op presidents, promotional materials; Training: Fair Trade certification and inspection process, FLO standards on cooperative structure.   

Project Outcomes: Participating cooperatives have achieved over 140% return on investment to date.  In a world where, in some Fair Trade varieties and products, demand can exceed supply, adding producer groups to our community is a powerful and simple way to dramatically improve farmers’ prospects and alleviate poverty.