News from Qoffee Qulture e.V.
Before Daniel and Lukas founded cumpa GmbH in August 2018, the two had already been volunteering for coffee farmers. In spring 2017, with the help of numerous donors, they realized a project for a Peruvian village. The project “Q al Pueblo” dealt with the problem that coffee farmers do not know the taste of their own product and are thus significantly impaired in their development. With support from Germany, a machine manufacturer friend built a simple coffee roasting machine in the Peruvian jungle for the villagers in Nuevo Cutervo. For this purpose, a gas cylinder, cupping utensils and a grinder were donated. A licensed coffee sommelier (Q Grader) from Nuevo Cutervo, who is also a friend, taught the villagers how to roast and taste their own coffee. The project started well and found more and more supporters. With the founding of Qoffee Qulture e.V. in the summer of 2017, the foundation was laid to pursue the voluntary work in the future with more and more new projects. The goal of the association is to improve the living situation of disadvantaged coffee farmers.
A lot has happened since then. The association was recognized as a non-profit organization by the tax office. Every year, several projects were realized in Peru. The focus was on very different topics: sometimes rain jackets were donated for poorly equipped jungle residents, sometimes Christmas parties for children in a rural school were financed, then again drying beds for coffee were built as a quality-enhancing measure for fincas, or a guinea pig breeding station for students in the mountain rainforest. At events in Germany, members collected donations and provided information about the association’s work. By now, almost 40 people are members of Qoffee Qulture e.V.. In the year 2022 they organized already the second time an association-internal hut weekend. The non-profit status was again recognized in the exemption order.
Many of the club members are friends from Daniel and Lukas’ student days in Karlsruhe. Others have joined from the local community or from the coffee industry. Lukas has been leading the association as the 1st board member for 6 years now. Daniel supports as financial director. The unpaid honorary work requires much strength and takes place in the spare time. It is not always easy to fit all this into everyday life, but that is why it is an honorary position.
The year 2022 is very special for the association: For the first time, a project was supported by the public sector. Together with the Stiftung Entwicklungszusammenarbeit Baden-Württemberg (SEZ) and the cooperatives Aproeco and Oro Verde, Qoffee Qulture e.V. is planting 15 hectares of Coffea Canephora in agroforestry in the lower regions of Peru. In the coming years, this will create a perspective for coffee farmers at lower altitudes. In addition, many tons of carbon will be sequestered and the climate stabilized.
You would like to become a member of the association, donate, or are otherwise interested in the association’s work? Feel free to write an email to vorstand@qoffeequlture.de