Dimitra and the Honduran Coffee Industry
AHPROCAFE, COMISUYL, and UNIOCASMO use Dimitra’s Connected Coffee Platform
Dimitra Incorporated’s involvement in the Honduran market, particularly in the coffee sector, has significantly impacted production, quality, and sustainability. Dimitra has successfully implemented its Connected Coffee Platform in Honduras by focusing on producer training. The platform provides innovative tools to optimize efficiency and increase yields in plantations.
Following suit, pioneering cooperatives are actively implementing the training provided by Dimitra. By adopting this technology, the companies highlight their crucial role in driving sustainability, quality, and efficiency in Honduras’ coffee industry.
Empowering communities with tech tools
As the Honduran coffee market is the fifth-largest global producer and a leader in Central America, coffee traceability is crucial for Honduran organizations.
Dimitra significantly contributes to the region’s economic development by empowering cooperatives and farmers with the necessary tools. This aligns with global demands for more responsible and sustainable agricultural practices. The collective effort represents a crucial step in the positive transformation of the Honduran coffee sector.
In January 2023, Dimitra and AHPROCAFE announced their initial partnership. Together, their goal was to provide traceability for the coffee grown in Honduras. Moreover, they planned on implementing Dimitra’s Connected Coffee Platform in as many cooperatives as possible.
Pedro Mendoza, president of AHPROCAFE, highlights, “Dimitra plays a crucial role as a strategic partner in the journey towards global digitization, driving technological transformation, and enhancing the productive, agro-industrial, and commercial competitiveness of coffee cooperatives worldwide.”
Growing transparency in a growing industry
Since Dimitra’s first partnership in Honduras, they have collaborated to understand the needs of Honduran coffee growers. Dimitra has strengthened its mutual commitment through strategic meetings, collaborative events, and essential visits.
Today, Dimitra is working with two additional Honduran coffee cooperatives.
Cooperatives like COMISUYL, formed by small producers from Subirana, Yoro, in Honduras, aim to expand their exports to various countries. They can do this while maintaining their organic and Fair Trade coffee certifications because the Connected Coffee Platform has been introduced.
Similarly, UNIOCASMO, a second-level organization whose 346 members represent the union of 17 Coffee Producer Associations, is implementing the platform. They aim to strengthen coffee production and marketing in the San Marcos region, Ocotepeque, in western Honduras. In fact, producers testify to the significant impact the project will have on their lives.
What’s more, the UNIOCASMO members recall that the platform will improve Honduran coffee traceability and quality and ensure compliance with the European Union regulations related to deforestation in imported products.
“The collaboration between Dimitra and cooperatives is seen as a fundamental step to ensure that Honduran products meet the requirements of sustainable production and continue to be marketed in the European Union,” comments Calvin Funez, Dimitra’s partner in Honduras.
Ensuring sustainable production with the EUDR
The technology that Dimitra provides farmers couldn’t have come at a better time.
It enhances coffee traceability and value and helps cooperatives and associations tackle the challenges posed by the new European Union regulation (EUDR).
Farmers worldwide are adjusting their farming practices to adhere to these new changes. Not to mention, farmers have to substantiate their farming practices to allow for produce export. If they don’t, the importer will face fines of up to four percent of their annual EU turnover.
As a result, this regulation demands that local companies ensure sustainable production of their products, combating deforestation related to soy, timber, coffee, cocoa, palm oil, beef, and rubber.
Dimitra’s Deforestation Compliance Module
Evidently, Dimitra is offering the Honduran coffee cooperatives that they are working with the Deforestation Certification Module as an upgrade to its Connected Farmer platform. This makes the deforestation evaluation accessible to combat the climate crisis. The deforestation module allows producers and traders to prove their goods are unrelated to deforestation and helps regulatory authorities confirm compliance.
Mauro Rodríguez, President of the Board of Directors of COMISUYL, states, “AHPROCAFE, in collaboration with Dimitra, aims to comply with forest preservation legislation, initially focusing on georeferencing to ensure that coffee comes from non-deforested areas. The collaboration intends to expand to manage traceability and inventories, replacing paper records with a digital approach. The Dimitra application is seen as a tool to meet the requirements of the new legislation, offering visibility, compliance reports, and facilitating agile and effective decision-making on production and agricultural issues.”
Promoting traceability, sustainability, and quality
In collaboration with cooperatives and associations like COMISUYL and UNIOCASMO, Dimitra is training producers to trace every bean, elevating the quality of Honduran coffee in the global market. Furthermore, using Dimitra’s platform, coffee growers have visibility, compliance reports, and accurate information about the origin of their coffee.
Dimitra is helping cooperatives adapt to these new regulations, using its platform to provide visibility, compliance reports, and accurate information about the product’s origin. Nonetheless, this partnership aims to elevate the Honduran coffee industry to a new level, promoting traceability, sustainability, and quality internationally.
Using Dimitra’s platform, coffee growers have visibility, compliance reports, and accurate information about the coffee’s origin.
Gerson Solorzano, UNIOCASMO Certification Technician, says, “UNIOCASMO, despite being a new enterprise, faces the challenge of complying with the new European Union legislation. To achieve this, it seeks to use a reliable tool like Dimitra to provide accurate information, meet information requirements and risk assessments, and carry out due diligence. In recent years, we have collaborated with municipal authorities and producers to improve the biodiversity of coffee plantations by incorporating timber trees and implementing reforestation projects in various communities.”
Press Contact: If you have inquiries about this news or to get in touch with Dimitra Incorporated, contact info@dimitra.io.
