Cafecol

How long have you been a CQI In-Country Partner (ICP)?

Since 2016

What does it mean to your company/organization to be an ICP?

Being ICP of CQI means that we are promoters of the Q program in Mexico to promote a standardized evaluation system for specialty coffees.

Provide a summary of what your company/organization accomplishes and include mission if applicable:

Our mission is to generate bases for a sustainable Mexican coffee growing through the articulation of the coffee sector and its knowledge with science, technology and the government sector; under an agroecological, social economy approach and through research, development and innovation. As an organization, we have managed to be champions of the Cup of Excellence in conjunction with the producers we support, winners of the Productive Innovation Award of the Sierra Madre Oriental Corridor promoted by the German Cooperation Agency and CONANP, and have linked specialty coffee exports to Japan and invited to participate in events at Stanford University, Oxford, the International Coffee Organization, the Let's Talk Coffee event, with FAO, the International Labor Organization, Latin American Coffee Summit and projects and diplomas in collaboration with the Intersectoral Network for Coffee Growing (Café In Red) and the National Center for Technological Development and Innovation of Coffee CENACAFE.

What is your relationship with CQI/the Q Program?

Since the creation of Cafecol, A.C. in 2009, in our cupping laboratory, we based the evaluation standards for specialty coffees on the Q evaluation system. We promote that the evaluations of specialty coffees are carried out by current Q cuppers in the CQI database.

What do you think are the opportunities of CQI's Q Coffees program?

In Mexico, in recent years there has been an increase in the consumption of specialty coffees. Producers and consumers are increasingly involved in understanding the coffee value chain in depth. In this sense, there is a growing demand for Certification courses for tasters, and professionalization in processes and certification of Q lots , mainly for export.

What do you think are the benefits of being a CQI ICP?

In the world of specialty coffees, the Q program is recognized worldwide for certifying the technical capabilities of the professionals who are in charge of assessing the quality of the coffees promoted as specialty. Being a collaborator of the CQI, makes us part of this team of professionals, committed to the preservation of quality and well-being for all actors and links in the coffee production and transformation chain.