This fully washed SHB EP coffee blend was produced by a group of 124 female producers working with the Asociación Civil Comercializadora Maya Alternativa (COMAL). With the support of COMAL, the producers who contributed to the Café de Mujeres package are focusing on improving the quality of coffee and the environmental sustainability of their farms. They participate in livestock sharing projects, produce their own organic fertilizers, attend workshops on entrepreneurship and financial literacy, and regularly renovate their rootstock to keep the trees healthy and productive. While coffee is the main cash crop for these farmers, they also grow honey, fruit trees and subsistence crops like maize and beans. They also plant trees to preserve biodiversity and protect groundwater supplies as well as a variety of flowers and plants that attract bees and increase their honey production. Each producer transforms and dries her own coffee on small terraces. They each have their own small pulpers, fermentation tanks, washing systems and parabolic dryers. COMAL organizes the collection of dried parchment from members and delivers it to the FECCEG dry mill in Quetzaltenango. Here, the quality team analyzes each batch. Depending on the quality, it will either be kept separately and sold in microlots, or blended with other coffees from the same producer organization and quality group. Strictly High Grown (SHG) specifies the altitude at which the coffee was grown. A coffee must be grown at an altitude of 1,200 meters or more to be considered SHG. The higher altitude and lower temperatures mean the coffee fruit ripens more slowly, creating a denser bean.