Mexico Chiapas CESMACH Cooperative - November 2025
Mexico Chiapas - Where Coffee and Cloud Forests Collide
Some coffees are defined by flavor. Others, by the forest that protects them.
This month’s Roaster’s Choice comes from the mist-covered highlands of Chiapas, Mexico — where hundreds of smallholder farmers grow coffee beneath one of the most biodiverse canopies on Earth. In this high-rainfall sanctuary, the coffee trees thrive in natural harmony. Their roots anchor Chiapas' rich volcanic soil while the surrounding forest filters rainfall and stabilizes entire mountain ecosystems. Every cup that comes out of this region carries that same sense of balance — complex, vibrant, and alive.
Grower: Various smallholder members of CESMACH
Region: Sierra Madre, Chiapas, Mexico
Cultivar: Bourbon, Typica, Mundo Novo
Altitude: 1200 - 1750 masl
Harvest: January - April
Process: Washed
Drying: Dried on patios and in mechanical dryers
Roast Level: Medium
Roast Body: Mild
Cupping Notes: Pomegranate, Molasses, Orange Zest
Rooted in Resilience and Respect
The CESMACH Cooperative produces shade-grown coffee inside the buffer zone of the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve located in Chiapas, home to Mesoamerica’s largest continuous cloud forest. A cloud forest is a rare type of tropical forest where warm, moist air meets cooler mountain elevations, forming a near-constant mist that blankets the trees. This natural humidity creates an ecosystem unlike any other — one that supports an extraordinary range of plant and animal life.
In Chiapas, the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve holds some of the last and largest remaining cloud forests in all of Mexico, making it one of the most vital biodiversity hotspots in the world. Here, the air is thick with life — from endangered tapirs and pumas to over 588 species of butterflies and 381 species of birds, including the radiant Resplendent Quetzal, a bird once considered sacred by the Maya and Aztec civilizations.
Every farm in CESMACH’s network is shade-grown beneath fruit and nut trees that stretch the rainforest outward, forming biological corridors that allow wildlife to migrate safely and helping to shield Chiapas' El Triunfo Reserve from outside encroachment. This canopy not only protects native species — it also protects the coffee itself. The shade slows fruit ripening, allowing the cherries to develop deeper sweetness and more complex flavor, while the natural leaf litter enriches the soil, reduces erosion, and retains moisture through the dry season. In essence, these farms in Chiapas act as a living extension of the forest — sustaining biodiversity above ground and building healthier, more resilient coffee ecosystems below it.
CESMACH: A Cooperative with a Backbone
Campesinos Ecológicos de la Sierra Madre de Chiapas, or CESMACH, began humbly in the 1990s with just a handful of farmers determined to grow better coffee while protecting their land. Today, the co-op has nearly 500 active members under the leadership of Sixto Bonilla, who’s helped turn CESMACH into one of Mexico’s most respected Fair Trade and organic coffee producers.
But their story isn’t just about success — it’s about courage.
In the early 2000s, CESMACH was supplying a major international coffee buyer, their only client at the time. When that buyer decided to restructure its sourcing, CESMACH was told they could only continue selling their prized Chiapas coffee if they agreed to work through a national exporter rather than selling directly.
That might sound like a simple logistical change, but for CESMACH, it meant losing control over their own coffee and forfeiting the Fair Trade premiums that were supposed to go directly back to the farmers.
Instead of accepting the deal, they pushed back. The cooperative’s leaders — many of whom had never made an international phone call before — gathered around a single landline and called the company to plead their case for direct trade and fair compensation. The answer was no.
Rather than fold, they doubled down on their principles and forfeited their contract and their only buyer.
The Chiapas producers reached out to other Fair Trade roasters and organizations, discovering new partners who would respect their independence. Slowly, CESMACH rebuilt from the ground up, and proved that transparency and self-determination are worth more than any single contract.
As CESMACH’s founding president Carlos Romero Velazco later said, “Of all the co-ops who worked with that company, only the four of us who refused the deal are still in existence.”
More Than Coffee: Strengthening A Community
That hard-won independence became the backbone of CESMACH’s identity. With Chiapas producers' future once again in their own hands, the cooperative turned its focus inward — toward community growth, environmental renewal, and projects that would make every member stronger.
CESMACH's Women's Project
CESMACH’s Women’s Project focuses on building leadership from the ground up. Many of the co-op’s women members and spouses now receive training in cooperative management, finance, and agricultural decision-making: roles that have traditionally been held by men in rural Chiapas. The project also supports small-scale organic gardens, poultry, and livestock initiatives that diversify family diets and create new sources of income. What began as an effort to strengthen household food security has grown into a powerful network of women farmers who now hold positions of influence within the cooperative and Chiapas communities. Their work ensures that CESMACH’s legacy of sustainability is also one of equity and inclusion.
CESMACH's Sustainable Coffee Project
The Sustainable Coffee Project looks beyond the next harvest, focusing instead on the long-term resilience of both the farms and the forest. Members are trained to replant aging coffee trees, integrate fruit-bearing crops such as citrus, and manage soil health through organic methods. These mixed plantings not only stabilize income, giving families something to sell between coffee harvests, but also rebuild biodiversity on the farm level, attracting pollinators and strengthening the natural ecosystems that protect Chiapas' El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve. It’s a model of regeneration that keeps both coffee and community thriving year after year.
Their Story, Your Cup
We feature coffees like Mexico Chiapas not just for their flavor, but for their story. This is what ethical sourcing looks like when it’s done right: a cooperative taking control of its future, protecting one of the planet’s most vital ecosystems, and still managing to produce a cup that absolutely sings. This Roaster's Choice selection is proof that great coffee can fuel more than just your morning — it can sustain an entire community.
In every sip, you taste courage, conservation, and the community painstakingly built in Chiapas. This cup is elegant yet vibrant, smooth and balanced, with juicy acidity and a subtle sweetness that mirrors the tropical fruit trees shading the farms. It’s approachable enough for everyday drinking but layered enough to make you stop and pay attention.
How Do I Get This Coffee?
Fresh Roasted Coffee’s Roaster’s Choice program is your passport to the world’s most captivating coffees, and this month’s journey takes us deep into the misty highlands of Chiapas, Mexico.
Our Mexico Chiapas CESMACH Cooperative coffee is a delicate yet dynamic cup—bursting with notes of pomegranate, molasses, and orange zest, and nurtured within the lush cloud forests of the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve.
The devoted producers with CESMACH, grow and process their coffees with un-paralleled care and consideration, working together not only to grow exceptional coffee but to protect the biodiversity of El Triunfo, one of Mesoamerica’s most vital ecosystems.
This is more than just a coffee—it’s a living connection between people and planet, between farmer and forest. A cup that carries the spirit of Chiapas itself: smooth, balanced, and full of quiet strength.
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