In the early 90's, CoDevelopment Canada, the non-profit that owns Café Ético, was working with a rural community on Ometepe Island in Nicaragua on a project to improve access to water. At the time many community members were part a co-operative of small-scale coffee farmers called Finca Magdalena. Although coffee prices in the world market were not abysmal, the cooperative did not sell their coffee directly to importers but rather to middle men which vastly reduced the price they received. Finca Magdalena also had a fairly large bank loan that was eating up farmers' meagre profits from coffee harvests, and coupled with high interest rates, the co-operative got caught in a vicious cycle were debt was growing rather than shrinking.

Seeking a long-term solution, Finca Magdalena members told CoDev and other Canadian grassroots partners that something they really needed was finding ways to get better prices for coffee. This led to Canadian organizations to sit down with co-operative representatives to reach concensus in formulating a price for coffee that would reflect the immense amount of labour and expertise that goes into organic coffee production and that would afford farmers and their families a dignified standard of living. Soon, CoDev and their partner organizations were buying 100% of the co-operative's coffee.

Within two years Finca Magdalena had paid 100% of it's bank loan and could begin operating free and clear of debt, finally beginning to invest in their co-operative, members, and communities. Today, the co-operative is a thriving organization which, in addition to farming coffee, also successfully operates a hostel, currently attracting thousands of visitors who also learn about coffee and organic agriculture.

Demand soon outgrew supply, and Café Ético began purchasing coffee from other farmer co-operatives in Northern Nicaragua, expanding our long-term network of partnerships from which we continue to purchase today.