Now Roasting in Sacramento: Pachamama Coffee Cooperative

Photo by Pachamama Coffee Cooperative

On the heels of a $50,000+ Kickstarter campaign and additional investment from its own members, Pachamama Coffee Cooperative has opened an approximately 2,000-square-foot production roastery in Sacramento.

It’s a significant investment for the growing cooperative, founded by CEO Thaleon Tremain and wholly owned by member cooperatives in Peru (COCLA), Nicaragua (PRODECOOP), Guatemala (MANOS CAMPESINAS), Mexico (HUATUSCO) and Ethiopia (OROMIA). Pachamama was previously outsourcing the roasting of coffees from its member cooperatives, and the new roasting operation allows for complete verticality.

At the heart of the roastery is a modified 30-kilo Ambex unit. Additional space, including a small retail section for roasted or green coffee sales and a cupping lab, will be open to the public during business hours at 919 20th Street.

In addition to the roastery investment, Pachamama is currently in the build-out process for a new coffee bar in East Sacramento at 36th and J Streets. It will be the company’s second retail bar, following the success of its initial cafe in Davis, Calif. Like the Davis cafe, the East Sac bar interior will include loads of wood from felled trees reclaimed by local craftsman Clark Kayler.

“The East Sac coffee bar will feature our farmers’ best single-origin coffee and an assortment of local pastries and desserts,” Tremain recently told Daily Coffee News, adding that the shop is slated for an August opening. Those single-origins will be featured in a range of manual pourover brewing options and espresso drinks.

Pachamama is also planning a dedicated cold brew station and a retail section for roasted coffee that will pay special attention to the coffee’s seed-to-cup journey. Tremain says the space will feature the TraceableCoffee.org platform, which was developed by Pachamana to promote tipping directly to the company’s smallholder farmer members.

Consumers can either scan the QR code or enter the source ID number found on Pachamama’s retail bags, and the platform takes them directly to a webpage full of information on an individual farmer, including the size and altitude of the farm, the coffee varieties grown there and the approximate annual harvest.