Barrie House continues its commitment to sustainable coffee by supporting coffee farming in its natural environment such as the cooperative Guaya’b grows in Guatemala.

“We are very concerned with the future of coffee and want to participate as a company that does everything it can to encourage coffee growth for decades to come,” says CEO, David Goldstein.

Bird friendly, shade grown coffee provides an array of direct results and concrete benefits to coffee production.

• Grown in tandem on organic coffee farms.
• Obligates farmers to manage their water and soil resources responsibly.
• Creates a forest-like setting for birds and other wildlife which makes everything around the farm more vibrant.
• Stimulates presence of native bees which are excellent pollinators, potentially helping to increase coffee yields.
• Birds are biological control agents and act as natural pest controllers. They consume beetle pests that bore into coffee beans and ruin crops.
• Agroforestry systems also support honeybees which give coffee sweet honey notes and frequently give farmers another exportable product—honey.
• Coffee grown by the Guaya’b Cooperative flowers three times annually.
• Diversity of trees such as shade trees, firewood, construction material, fruits and medicinal plants, provide additional resources to farmers apart from coffee production.

The Guaya’b cooperative produces a limited amount of honey farmers call ‘coffee honey’ because coffee flowers constitute the main nectar source for the bees.

Barrie House purchases 25% of what the Guaya’b Cooperative produces. “Guaya’b Guatemalan organic fair trade coffee is SMBC (Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center) Bird Friendly and the only coffee certification 100 percent guaranteed organic and shade-grown, which translates to the healthiest farms, and we are proud to offer this coffee since 2014,” says Mr. Goldstein.

Willson Warbler

Black and Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Black and White Warbler

Learn more about Smithsonian Bird Friendly Coffee.