Sustainability Assistant

From the specialty coffee area, we focus on searching and finding coffee farms that want to be part of the environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Making the population aware of how fundamental it is to care for and preserve the environment, how it is possible to improve the workers’ social conditions, the good agricultural practices, and the adequate administrative management that each of their farms can have—inculcating the continuous improvement of the coffee processes to prepare for the sustainable future.

We provide technical assistance, training, medical check-ups at no cost. In addition to this, certified coffee growers receive an economic bonus for being part of the challenge: the challenge of being environmentally sustainable.

Coffee Company La Meseta S.A., from the private sector, has been a pioneer in UTZ certification processes. In 2008 the certification of La Finca La Guamera began, and in 2009 the certification for the Chain of Custody was obtained, which includes Wet Mill La Guamera, Central Benefit La Insula, and Thresher La Meseta. To benefit a group of producers from the municipalities of Villamaría, Manizales, Anserma, Santuario, and Chinchiná (a group made up of 60 productive units), we focus on leadership, growth, and good performance to obtain recognition in good agricultural practices and product management from its planting, growth, and development of coffee until its harvest.

These producers have become allies of the Company from different purchase points; they have improved their sustainability practices and are already obtaining added value for their harvests. La Meseta always thinks about the implementation of new production units located in various areas of the country.

With the previous initiatives, the Meseta demonstrates its commitment to good practices and the future of coffee growing in Colombia and has become an essential supplier of Rainforest Alliance coffee to the market and the world.

«IMPACTS THAT HAVE BEEN GENERATED AS THE COMPANY’S COFFEE PRODUCERS (OWN FARMS)»

SOCIAL IMPACT AND EMPLOYMENT GENERATION OF THE FARMS OF THE LA MESETA COFFEE COMPANY

Since La Meseta Coffee Company arrived in the rural area of ​​the municipality of Chinchiná in 2015, it began the reactivation of this population´s economy by generating a large number of direct jobs in the assembly of coffee cultivation on the farms; some were in other crops such as grass and fruit trees. To this day, we can proudly say that between 1,000 and 1,200 people can come to work on our farms in times of the leading coffee harvest, taking into account that there is a great family behind each grain of harvested coffee: the coffee family.

GOOD ACCOMMODATION CONDITIONS

The most important thing for the company will always be the dignified and fair treatment of the people who collaborate daily with us, carrying out all the farms’ tasks, both harvesting and maintaining the crops. For that reason, the company does not have spared in having accommodations with all the necessary amenities to feel at home: comfortable beds, clean bedrooms, television, and of course, drinking water and electricity; in addition to this, the women in charge of preparing food are trained. Their kitchens are adequate with ecological stoves that allow the efficient use of firewood, fewer smoke emissions that affect the respiratory tract, and preparing food in less time. All this makes the farm attractive for the farmworker and helps them choose us over other farms in times of scarcity, and thus we can develop coffee production without any setback.

DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL WELFARE

The company believes in the personal development and well-being of everyone who supports us. For these reasons, based on the staff’s needs and the stamps we have (UTZ and Rainforest), we provide training with a group of professional collaborators on crop management, safe use of agrochemicals, proper food handling. Likewise, we create awareness in the care of the fauna and flora of our fields. We have Health days that are very important to monitor those who work with us; this allows us to generate harmony in the whole process because everyone is important, and we want their growth, both personal and career.

CARE AND CONSERVATION OF WATER RESOURCES

We conserve and preserve our water sources by implementing species to protect and care for the areas where this water resource is found, making our entire team aware of how fundamental water is for life housed on our planet.

In the areas destined for coffee production, there are approximately 28 water sources, which have been protected with activities related to isolation and reforestation, introducing native species of the area, thus having 7,080 trees planted between 2018 and 2019.