UNDERSTANDING THE "Fair Trade CERTIFIED” SEAL

October is “Fair Trade” month, and we are pleased to feature one of Vienna Coffee Company’s own “Fair Trade Certified” in October, Organic Nicaragua.

This coffee, from the La Providencia Cooperative, grows in the highest zones of Kilambé, just a few miles from the Honduras border, and dries on decks that use solar-powered dryers. La Providencia members each grow and harvest coffee on their individually owned plots, which are planted with native flora. Ripened coffee is harvested by family members and nearby co-op associates….

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La Armonia Hermosa - The Beautiful Harmony

The phrase La Armonia Hermosa translates as The Beautiful Harmony

This fine Guatemalan coffee grows in and around the village of Santa Maria de Jesus nestled high along a fertile volcano overlooking the Antigua Valley. The volcanic soil is well known in Guatemala for its rich agricultural value. Historically the small group of family farms in this region struggled to balance growing high-quality coffee and maintaining a livable wage. With the farming group that provides La Armonia Hermosa, farmers receive higher prices for their beans due to increased quality, marketability, and personal relationships with their buyers.

Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala

Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala

All of this exported coffee is hand sorted for size and defects to meet the highest specialty coffee standards. This allows you to enjoy “The Beautiful Harmony” of this coffee and offer these farmers economic sustainability along with an increased sense of pride in their product and community

Julio Cesar Cuy Xar is the leader of a group of family farmers in Santa Maria de Jesus providing the beans for La Armonia Hermosa. His coffee adventure began in 2005 exploring his aspirations for sustainable farming in his community. Julio is part of an emerging generation of farmers in his region. Increasing numbers of farmers are abandoning their land to migrate to larger cities, or even the USA, due to the coffee crisis across Guatemala. Julio strives to move beyond these mounting pressures and hold to a vision for improved stability by leading the partnership responsible for La Armonia Hermosa coffee. This vision is responsible for uniting more than twenty farmers within Santa Maria de Jesus. Julio and his son, Melvin, also run the local Beneficio (coffee processing plant).

We at Vienna partnered with Jamie and Les Stoneham of Deeper Roots Coffee. The pictures above feature highlights from our 2017 trip to Santa Maria de Jesus and our visit with Julio Cesar Cuy Xar at the farm and Beneficio.

Natural La Armonia Hermosa Bag

Experience the flavors of Santa Maria de Jesus with La Armonia Hermosa at Vienna Coffee Company

La armonia hermosa | home. (n.d.). La Armonia Hermosa. Retrieved September 9, 2021, from

Leutert, S. (2018, July 27). Why are so many migrants leaving Guatemala? A crisis in the coffee industry is one reason. Time.