Coffee Production Partnership Grows in Scope

When Roy Heerema, Classis Hudson, prepared for the May Council of Delegates meeting in Grand Rapids, Mich., arranging to bring along more than 50 pounds of coffee was on his packing list—a way to share with other delegates the benefits of a Honduran coffee project started five years ago.

At the meeting’s Thursday morning coffee break, delegates got to taste the fruits of Elevar, a direct-trade production cooperative with Honduran coffee-growers aimed at elevating soil quality, farmers' lives, their communities, and the name of Jesus.

It’s a project of the Galana Coffee Company, a venture that got its start because of a partnership of Mayfair Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., (since disbanded) and a Honduran congregation in the village of Cañada Galana. The churches were matched through a program by World Renew, the CRC’s global relief and development ministry, around 2010.

Lisa Buffinga co-founded Galana Coffee with her husband, Lance, in 2016. She said it all started with her father, Bert Steensma. A business owner and leader, Steensma wanted to find ways to support the village and noticed that local families were already growing coffee for local markets. “My dad had a vision that maybe they could export the coffee,” Buffinga said.

Steensma died from lung cancer before his dream could take shape. The Buffingas took up the project in his honor. Galana Coffee Company provided education, solar-powered dryers, and access to international buyers, helping even very small-scale producers to earn a living. Over time, the impact grew.

Between 2020 and 2021, Galana helped launch Elevar, a co-op based in the Agalta Valley, with support from Partners Worldwide and the North East Community Transformation based in New Jersey. Heerema serves on the board of North East Community Transformation, a diaconal ministry started by Classis Hudson and Classis Hackensack.

Like the initial Cañada Galana connection, Elevar equips farmers with training, solar dryers, and business skills to grow high-quality coffee and connect to the export market. “Elevar started with 17 producers, and this year they are up to over 60,” Buffinga said. Noting that the project aims “to teach micro producers to think like entrepreneurs,” she said the long-term goal is for Elevar to become fully self-sufficient by 2028. Once they reach 150,000 pounds of exports annually, a small portion of revenue will fund ongoing operations.

“We’re trying to change the way coffee is bought and sold in the world. It’s tied to the commodity price, and commodity prices fluctuate. Sometimes it drops way below a producer’s costs—sometimes it soars high. It’s always up and down and up and down, so we are trying to educate producers to know how much it costs to produce a pound of coffee and set their prices to produce a pound of coffee. If we could get the coffee world to buy and sell coffee this way then coffee could stabilize. We’re trying to bring stability to the coffee market, which will enable people to have the confidence to stay on their farms and make a go of it.”

Galana Coffee customers include churches purchasing coffee for congregational use, businesses for their clients and employees, and individuals. An Alberta company, Good Neighbour Coffee, which has been importing Honduran coffee for the Canadian market for about 15 years, also purchases its supply through Elevar. Pastor Rick Abma opened Good Neighbour CoffeeHouse in Lacombe, Alta., in 2017.