After many years of work, coffee grown on Ometepe is now recognized as a distinct type because of the environment where it is grown. The "denomination of origin" — similar to the way wine and cheese marketing is restricted to specific geographic areas — is intended to boost marketing efforts.
Barbara Saur had the honor of being the first customer at the Bainbridge Farmer's market to buy Café Oro from Girl Scout Troop 44331. Selling coffee made more sense than selling Girl Scout cookies, the troop decided.
We aren’t the only community association that’s enjoyed a long friendship with Ometepe. The Ometepe-Gulf Islands Friendship Association, on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, has roots nearly as deep as ours.
Would you like to pick some of the coffee beans that will end up in your cup of Cafe Oro? Meet the farmers and learn more about the Sister Islands’ coffee connections? Join a delegation to Ometepe in November, 2015.
In 1991, a medical delegation was sent around Maderas, one of the two volcanoes on Ometepe, with a horse to carry the supplies they had brought with them. When the delegates returned to Bainbridge, they lugged back 16 very heavy suitcases filled with green coffee beans.
