2018 Seeds Fund Recipient
The Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Valle de Incahuasi used their Seeds grant money to hire a biofertilizer specialist, who will conduct a series of workshops with co-op members on how to produce and apply biofertilizers. A portion of the money will also go towards purchasing the equipment needed to produce this type of fertilizer.
The process of producing biofertilizer generally involves taking living microorganisms from the local area and creating an environment where they can reproduce. When applied, these microorganisms increase the supply of available nutrients in the soil through their biological processes. The plants in that soil get more nutrients - like nitrogen and phosphorus - because the microorganisms either create more of these nutrients in the soil and/or make them available in a form that is easier for the plant to uptake. Biofertilizer is different than organic fertilizer—with bio you’re applying microorganisms and with organic you’re applying nutrients derived from natural sources.
Seeds Program
Counter Culture Coffee collects $0.01 from every pound of coffee sold to fund our Seeds program. Annually, $1 per pound of our winter coffee blend, Iridescent, goes to further increase our contribution. Seeds offers financial grants to producers and producer organizations we work with to implement sustainability projects they identify as beneficial. To date, we’ve allocated over $280,000 to Seeds projects.