"This project was what we needed to complete the environmental sustainability project we had already been working on."
Benefits generated from the process itself
The three business partners and siblings of the coffee production and processing company by the name of BOSA Occidente have been working since 2016 to improve the environmental sustainability of their company. To achieve this, they implement measures to reduce both water and energy consumption of the processing plant and combine the renovation actions of their coffee plantations with reforestation.
A small but important boost
In 2019, BOSA Occidente became part of the group of coffee mills supported by the Coffee NSP, which allowed them to carry out their GHG emissions inventory, acquire the necessary machinery to reduce energy consumption and continue their reforestation program, reaching 4,000 trees planted on the farm.
-This project was what we needed to complete the environmental sustainability project we had already been working on, says María Fernanda Valverde, controller of BOSA Occidente.
It is not reduction for the sake of reduction
Thanks to the improvements applied to the processing processes and the renovation and reforestation of coffee plantations, in the last four years, BOSA Occidente has achieved a reduction of GHG emissions of 48 tons of CO2e on the farm and 82 tons in the processing plant. For people committed to the environmental sustainability of their productive activity, such as the members of BOSA Occidente, this is a satisfactory result.
However, Valverde stresses that it is not simply a matter of reducing for the sake of reducing. Although reducing emissions initially involves making significant investments to adapt processes, BOSA Occidente's experience has shown that in the relatively short term these investments are recovered in terms of energy savings and reduced production costs.
-Sometimes you wonder why invest in something if what you have is already functioning. The project staff made us realize the importance. It is not only the issue of reducing emissions, but also emphasizing savings and cost reduction, looking at the whole chain down to the end of the costs that can be reduced. [...] It is about making visible the benefit of improving the process itself.
In the medium-term, the objective for BOSA Occidente is that the improvements to the processes will result in an increase in production and will also allow them to begin to market already roasted coffee, focusing on a market segment that values the traceability and sustainability of the product.
In addition to the technical and financial support obtained by the Coffee NSP, becoming a coffee that is able to demonstrate that it is low in emissions is an important source of confidence for the market. The expectation is that all of this can be leveraged and translated into better prices.
