Maya Vinic

The Cooperative "Producers' Union Maya Vinic" is comprised of some 700 coffee farming families located in 36 highland communities (900-1400 meters) in the municipalities of Chenalhó, Pantelhó and Chalchihuitán, in Chiapas, Mexico. Inspired by the traditions of their ancestors, Maya Vinic is organized and operates in keeping with a respect of local culture, language, reverence for the Mother Earth and traditional forms of self-government.

Maya Vinic is born out of the wider civil society "Las Abejas", an organized response to the prevalent injustice in their communities and in the hopes of promoting positive change and autonomous development by pacific means. The plight of their communities came to the public eye in the aftermath of the infamous Acteal Massacre, where 45 men, women and children were killed by paramilitary forces and thousands more displaced from their homes.

Coffee production is nothing new to the farmers of this region. Farmers eventually were able to organize themselves into producer cooperatives in search of more equitable markets. The organizational structure of Maya Vinic holds a General Assembly as its maximum authority.

Cooperative Coffees purchased the first Maya Vinic coffee to be exported under fair trade terms in 2001. In the cup, this coffee is smooth-bodied and balanced with a fruitiness.

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