Robusta: Women of Courage
In the Mexican State of Veracruz, far from the clamour of the capital, women are gaining ground as they run the farms or lend their expertise to the coffee-growing world. High in these emerald mountains, meet one of these women, Pastora, as she shares the secrets to growing her extraordinary Robusta.
A woman’s voice rises in song above the dense foliage, a tangle of coffee and orange trees. The lyrics recount the simple, everyday pleasures of life, the rugged beauty of the mountains of Veracruz and the flavour of Tepatlaxco coffee. Here, between 700 and 1,000 metres above sea level, luxu- riant bushes of Arabica and Robusta coffee hug the gentle curves of the landscape. The climate, coupled with the expert care of local growers, makes these beans some of the best in Mexico. The person singing this little tune is Pastora, proud owner of the farm that bears her name and that of her six children: 7 Caballeros. With her cap pulled tightly down on her head to ward off the nurturing December rain, she glows with satisfaction as she shows us her Robusta cherries, just starting to redden. Come February, the fruits will be perfectly ripe. Once back in the shelter of her home, Pastora makes a full pot of coffee. Her green coffee — café oro, as they say here, a nod to the bean’s golden tints — is roasted traditionally on a wood fire. It is then ground by mortar and pestle, implements carved from a thick trunk, before being filtered. A bracing fragrance warms the air, just as the beverage warms our bodies, numbed by pervasive chill. Pastora is one of 38 female coffee-growers out of the 238 farmers in the community of Tepatlaxco. Mexican society is beginning to make progress in the empowerment of women, and this coffee grower is standing her ground with the same assertive char- acter of the Robusta she cultivates: powerful, subtle, deeply rooted in the local land.
Pastora is one of 38 women coffee growers among 238 farmers
Fulfilling the family destiny
“I’m thrilled to see women finally taking a stand — they’re persistent and determined and, when they want something, they get it!” exclaims Pastora, herself a model of that perseverance. She proudly recounts her own family’s history: “My mother came here from Italy when she was 15. Starting in the late 19th cen- tury, the Mexican government encouraged a wave of immigration. We were given some land and a cow. My whole family decided to specialise in growing coffee.” The coffee tree was introduced from the West Indies in the late 18th century, but it would take nearly a century for the crop to be exported. Mexico is now the world’s tenth-largest coffee-producing country. Today, among the people of Tepatlaxco, there is little left of Italy, the native land of many of its inhabitants. “When I was a little girl, speaking the language was forbidden, so we only spoke Italian in secret. But my mother taught me how to cook polenta. This tradi- tional cornmeal dish is like a bridge between the cul- tures of both countries. And though I’ve never been to Italy — maybe I’ll go there someday –, I know that’s where the best coffee is!” Pastora laughs as she fin- ishes one of the ten cups she enjoys daily, served very long with plenty of sugar, quite different from Italian espressos. “When I got married, my husband would never let me teach him what I knew about growing coffee. He was really stubborn and didn’t want a woman working in this business,” she reminisces. Life’s harsh twists and turns, however, changed the course of her destiny. “My husband died when I was 42, shortly after the death of one of our daughters,” she says with dignity. “If no-one took action, the land would be lost. But nobody lent a helping hand. I was a widow with five children. Those were hard times, very hard. But I fought that battle and I’m proud to have proven wrong those who told me I would never succeed, that I’d have to sell and leave my farm.” Today, the head of the Caballero family owns ten hectares of Robusta, in an area where most farms average only two hectares. Every day, during the crop’s high season, she harvests up to two tonnes of cherries on her property.
Facing the daily challenge
Today, Pastora is hosting an agronomist, Olga. This Mexican woman, 31, is a field consultant taking part in the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program. She supports and trains coffee growers to improve crop quality, farm productivity and environmental sustainability. A work that is now bearing fruit and giving Tepatlaxco’s Robusta beans greater value through the collaborative efforts of the producers — both women and men — and Nespresso. The voices of the women of Veracruz are at last being heard. Pastora’s commitment, motivation and determination make her a role model for her community. Yet Olga agrees that it is hard being a woman in this coffee-growing land: “People looked down on women becoming coffee farmers. It’s very hard, physical work. Not to mention the fact that women producers also have to take care of house- hold chores, the family, all while managing the farming business. Still, mindsets are changing and the men are finally recognising the work women do — but it’s still a rare thing to see any of these gentlemen helping with the housework!” Olga and Pastora chuckle together. “As an agronomist, I’ve found that being a woman is a challenge,” says Olga. “There aren’t many of us in this business. And we work mainly with male producers. We give them advice, but men sometimes have a hard time accepting my recommendations. They question my legitimacy, my authority. You always have to prove your worth, your strength, your determina- tion. Women bring a certain sensitivity and finesse to managing a business. And they’re happy to do the hands-on work, to run their farms. And that’s essential to producing truly good coffee.” Olga says, smiling. She adds one last comment: “We want con- sumers who enjoy a cup of Nespresso made with Mexican coffee from Tepatlaxco to be aware of the work of the entire community that goes into that drink. A capsule is the result of the labour of the farmers, the farm workers, the agronomists — all the women and men who have taken part in pro- ducing it.” Nodding, Pastora adds, “Mexican coffee is like gold. It has a unique flavour, because it’s grown with love.” _
“As a woman, you always have to prove your strenght”
The Special Tepatlaxco Robusta Technique
What makes this Robusta unique is the generous size of the beans, coupled with a particularly viscous mucilage (the flesh of the fruit that nourishes the beans). It is one of the only Robusta beans in the world that is cleaned twice. Here are the seven steps that take this Robusta from tree to capsule.
1. Harvest. The ripe cherries are hand-picked, then bagged for transport to the sorting and processing centre.
2. Sorting. The cherries are sorted to ensure top quality; only those that meet Nespresso’s standards are accepted. The producers’ farms are AAA- and Rainforest- Alliance-certified.
3. Depulping and first cleaning. The cherries are opened mechanically to release the beans inside. An initial mechanical washing process cleans off the pulp and mucilage that surrounds the beans.
4. Fermentation. The beans are placed in vats to remove any remaining pulp and mucilage. The cool mountain temperatures means fermentation lasts 24 to 30 hours.
5. Second cleaning. This second mechanical cleaning is essential to completely “demucilage” the beans. Without this step, they would be too “sticky” and the fermentation wouldn’t stop.
6. Drying. Once the second cleaning is complete, the beans are ready to be dried in mechanical dryers.
7. Bagging and transport. The green coffee is hulled and then sorted by bean size, density and finally is hand sorted in order to remove the defective beans. Then packed and conveyed to Veracruz’s busy port, where it sets sail for Europe.
