In the heart of Huatusco, not only are mountainous landscapes hidden, surrounded by culture and history, but also the origin of one of the most consumed and loved products by Mexicans: the coffee.
This is one of the most important agricultural ports in the country. It is enough to feel the strong breeze of its mountain ranges, characteristic of the Sierra Madre Oriental, to understand why our first cup of the morning tastes like Veracruz.
And it is that, together with the mountainous regions of Puebla, Guerrero and Chiapas, the entity stands as one of the largest coffee producers that position Mexico in the ninth most coffee-producing position in the world and the second in Latin America, according to data from the Food and Fisheries Information Service (SIAP).
Given its economic importance, it is not surprising that companies dedicated to the sale and distribution of coffee begin to see the Mexican land as an opportunity for growth, quality and social contribution. Such is the case of andatiwhich sowed the seed of employability in 60 hectares of Veracruz and today distributes 100 percent Mexican coffee in the 17,400 OXXO stores that exist in the country.
Huatusco: a cup of coffee, five years of work
Life in the coffee plantations is a unique experience and full of challenges. In these rural areas of Mexico, people live and work amidst the plantations that make it possible to enjoy a hot cup of coffee in the morning and fill our surroundings with the singular aroma of five years of hard labor.
The work in the coffee plantations is extensive and requires great dedication and passion for agriculture. The peasants and their families are dedicated to caring for and harvesting the fruits of the coffee plants, a process that requires a lot of physical effort and technical knowledge… not everyone can carry out this work to completion.
Despite the challenges, life on the coffee plantations is also full of rewards. The people live in a beautiful natural environment and are surrounded by the beauty of the mountains and coffee plantations. In addition, the community in the coffee plantations is very close and the farmers work together to support each other, because more than a simple agricultural product, coffee is their way of life and a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation.
Coffee production is a complex process that includes several stages, including:
- Crop: Coffee is grown in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. A warm and humid climate is required for its growth.
- Harvest: Coffee beans are harvested when ripe and can be picked by hand or with the help of machines.
- Prosecution: After harvest, the coffee beans are processed to remove the pulp and husk, and dried in the sun or in mechanical driers.
- Classification and selection: The coffee beans are classified and selected based on their quality and characteristics.
- Packing: Finally, the coffee beans are roasted and packed for worldwide shipment and subsequent marketing.
This is how your OXXO coffee is produced
The magic of andatti arises in the nurseries of Cobisa, that is where the OXXO coffee brand begins its life, turning a small seed into the hot liquid of every morning that covers millions of homes and triggers the moment of routine daily.
Just 10 minutes from the center of Huatusco are the nurseries and the composting area where the brand can be smelled and felt among the furrows (rows of coffee trees) and coffee berry bushes.
With variations ranging from 11 to 20 degrees, the cold and fog gradually dissipate each time those in charge of planting explain the initial process with which the Veracruz countryside is brought to life.
And it is that the process begins when the coffee trees are grafted to create a crop with the best attributes of two plants in one; So, each worker of this nursery can make 1,500 grafts per day of the plant species “Colombia”, which is brought to land and is supervised daily for at least one year of growth.
This is the plant that will form the furrows of bushes full of cherry, the berry that, in addition to being an edible fruit, results in the raw material for coffee and that, in this place in Huatusco, up to 300 tons a day is collected for transformation.
“Each plant or bush has normally been producing about 4 kilos of cherry coffee each year, this represents half a kilo of roasted and ground coffee or 50 cups of coffee.”
Franco Fernandez Manzano, Cobisa Engineer.
The process in Huatusco coffee plantations is theoretically simple, it is enough to understand that from the small graft that is sown, the essential fruit is born: the coffee cherry, a reddish berry that is carefully harvested in a beautiful dance of pinch to give rise to the complex production process.
Among venues with the Andatti seal, few visitors have been able to see how the green plants flourish until they produce that fruit with a flavor similar to that of soursop and, in the center, the beige seed that takes between three and five years to become the most delicious coffee. consumed from Mexican convenience stores.
The berry is thoroughly washed and then pulped, resulting in a whitish seed called parchment coffee, which passes through steam machines where, through rollers with small holes and a large retention container, it is dried to remove a small rind. superior.
This is only half the process. In other machines, the parchment coffee is “strained” again in order to remove the last shell from its center and thus turn it into gold coffee, that is, the last phase of the seed that can now be roasted and ground for consumption. .
“In the peasant language of coffee, we use the word quintal, commercially a quintal is 100 pounds of gold coffee, so that I can obtain those 100 pounds, I need 57.5 of parchment, there it will reduce 20 percent, which it is the shell that is removed. In order for me to obtain these 57.5 pounds, there is a little debate here, because previously I needed approximately 250 kilos of cherry coffee, but with the introduction of hybrid varieties we can use a little more, but it will depend a lot on the weather,” he tells Merca2.0 the engineer in charge of giving technical assistance to Caffenio producers, OXXO’s business partner.
Thus, in a small but exclusive tour with the brand, Merca2.0 was able to walk among the nurseries and wet and dry mills where the entire Andatti coffee production process is carried out, an experience that is shared year after year as a plan of loyalty to OXXO employees and customers.
This walk through Huatusco coffee plantations not only shows us the muscle of a Mexican company, but also the importance that this work gives to the country at an economic and cultural level; The first, since coffee is one of Mexico’s main exports and contributes significantly to the national economy, as well as being an important source of employment for thousands of farmers and workers in the coffee industry:; the second, by contemplating that coffee is an integral part of the daily life of Mexicans and is part of the rich tradition and heritage of the country. The production of high-quality coffee is also a source of national pride and a way that Mexico can be recognized in the world for its excellence in this product.
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