Inspirations

A Honduran coffee with (very) unique origins

A velvety coffee with notes of citrus and caramel. Arabica beans grown on volcanic soils that come exclusively from one small Honduran community. Discover the story of the Van Houtte® Honduras San Luis Planes Signature coffee you’re about to drink!

Favourite Coffee

Van Houtte® and Montaña Verde

The year 2021 marks 20 years of collaboration between Van Houtte® and the coffee growers of San Luis Planes in Honduras. This tiny community in the Santa Bárbara department is home to a population that works mostly on small coffee farms, where they take pride in the quality of their beans. The volcanic soils and high altitude of San Luis Planes provide ideal conditions for growing coffee trees. You may not know, but Honduras is the fourth-largest Arabica coffee producer in the world, with no less than 100,000 family farms growing this variety.

The team at Van Houtte® has a strong connection with the Montaña Verde cooperative in San Luis Planes. Van Houtte® even supported the community to form the Montaña Verde cooperative and obtain their Fairtrade certification. Over the years, people from both organizations were able to visit each other through trips from Canada to Honduras and vice versa.

Planting seeds for a better quality of life

Beyond supporting the cooperative through our Fairtrade purchases, we have assisted the Montaña Verde cooperative through our supply chain grants. For example, in collaboration with the international development agency SOCODEVI, we’ve helped increase food security for hundreds of families from this small community. In addition, in collaboration with the non-profit agricultural lender Root Capital, we’ve helped improve the financial management of the cooperative and access to financing for its members.

Since receiving their Fairtrade certification, the community has appreciated tangible benefits, including diversified sources of income, the creation of community gardens and an increase in their children’s school attendance.

A fair trade and traceable product

Fair trade refers to established social and environmental criteria and a better price for farmers. Fair trade coffee has a minimum price, which guarantees that even if the average price of a pound of coffee falls on the international market, the price of the fair trade product cannot fall below a certain threshold. In addition, for every pound of green coffee sold under fair trade conditions, the producer organization earns an extra 20 cents that goes directly into a community development fund.

Van Houtte® Honduras San Luis Planes Signature coffee is also part of a traceability project. This means that thanks to blockchain technology, you can follow this Signature coffee along every step of its journey, from the Honduran coffee farms to your cup. It’s a 100% Fairtrade-certified circuit and a single-origin product.

Flavours of the Honduran highlands

What exactly does single-origin coffee mean? It’s a product whose beans come from a single country. This creates a distinctive flavour and taste profile unique to a particular region of the world, as each one has its own soil and agricultural processes. Similar to wine, terroir strongly influences the taste of coffee. This Honduran coffee is an excellent example of this, as its beans come from only one cooperative located in the village of San Luis Planes.

Van Houtte® Honduras San Luis Planes Signature coffee delivers unique flavour in every cup. Earthy and roasted notes blend perfectly with its light caramel taste and sweet finish. Citrus, hazelnut and dark chocolate flavours are also present. It leaves a delicious bitterness and roundness on the tongue.

Photos: Montaña Verde Cooperative