Finca Jesper
Finca Jesper
The Story
Frederik Zeuthen is of Danish heritage but has lived most of his life in central and south America. He started a cooperative project in the region of Matagalpa in Nicaragua back in 2009. The name, Café Nor, pays tribute to the partnership with the Norteños - the proud coffee growers of the northern regions of Nicaragua.
When Frederik first approached Scanomat back in 2013, he didn't have much production yet. He had ambitions and an aim that fit with the core Amokka® ethos. The ideas were great, and he had already established connections with many farmers, was processing coffee on a mill down the mountain, and had contacted agronomists and other resources that could help improve farming processes. Alongside that, the coffee was good - and he knew what he wanted to achieve. His own mill.
Since day one, the aim has been to promote socio-economic growth for coffee farmers and improve the environmental sustainability of participating communities. Cafe Nor created an avenue for small farms to sell their product on a global market. Through sustainable farming, education and mechanical support like: In-House Roasting Process, Dry Mill, and Speciality Fermentations.
We couldn't be prouder of Frederik’s work and progress and will continue to source his amazing coffees for years to come.
Frederik Zeuthen with one of the farmers at Finca Jesper, Juan.
The Farm
Finca Jesper is located in the north-eastern part of Nicaragua. The area has lots of rain and sun year-round and an abundance of animal life, which the farmers try to help preserve by practicing sustainable ownership of the forests and watersheds.
The coffee farm has extensive use of shade-grown coffee and its own water resources. The water from the wet milling processes is filtered and transported to the plantation with gravity pumps, without the use of fuel, to irrigate the coffee. The coffee pulp from the process is composted and used for natural fertilisers.
On Finca Jesper they mainly grow Caturra and Catuai and have special lots of hand-picked rust-resistant heirloom varietals Pacamara and Maracaturra.
Angel Rosals shows the shadow grown coffee barriers a few months before the harvest.
The coffee berries are all handpicked when they are ripe.
The coffee beans are dried in the sun in the valley.
Quality Grader Sergio Blandon test the coffee with Frederik Zeuthen.
Projects with Café Nor
Café Nor and Amokka® have together invested heavily over the years to develop the facilities at Finca Jesper.
The farm has, with the help of the Amokka® Impact Trade initiative, invested in solar and- photovoltaic panels to both heat water (for drying coffee, amongst other things) and generate electricity. The aim at the farm is to fully combat the use of diesel generators and be 100% renewable.
The final frontier is to get all the coffee to be certified organic. It is, from Amokka's point of view, a much more rewarding journey to help support our farmers to become organic than just finding one that is organic already.
