The Victoire project as seen by the Mora family
What is Cinco Calles?
Cinco Calles is a family business made up of 5 members: Sonia, Abel (parents), Daliana, Steven, and Karol (children). It was founded in 2018 with the clear intention of improving the family's economic situation through coffee processing. That year, Steven, with the support of the entire family, decided to venture into the world of specialty coffee, all of them aware of the major problem posed by high living costs, high production costs, and low prices received for coffee.
Production was delivered to a cooperative, and the payment received was not enough to survive, pay debts, and maintain the farm. Therefore, there were only two options: sell the farm, which had been started in the 1960s by our grandfather Eulalio Mora, or seek to make the most of the product we had. It is for all these reasons that we decided to start processing specialty coffee according to the highest quality standards, in order to obtain a fair price for the work done.
Victoire Project
The Victory Project was born in 2019 under the impetus of Simon Fabi, owner of Cantook. For the Mora Sánchez family, the creation of this project is synonymous with enthusiasm, courage, and heart, not only from Cinco Calles but also from the Canadian family represented by Cantook. The generosity and trust placed in us are reflected daily in what we love to do, by highlighting our coffee.
The initiative reinforces the idea of what specialty coffee represents: enabling better living conditions for farmers and their families. For us, this is the true meaning of our work, to be not only a specialty coffee, but also the specialty in coffee, through all the things we can achieve with this magnificent fruit, just like the Cantook team led by Simon Fabi. Year after year, the mentality and objective remain the same: to be more demanding with what we do to strengthen the project's idea. Thus, we always focus on offering the best of ourselves, reflected in a cup of coffee, where the customer perceives the hard work we do throughout the year, thanks to the work of roasting and beverage preparation specialists.
A word from Steven Mora
It's never easy to start a project, no matter the field. Today, I'm reflecting on how we got here, and it's hard to understand a lot without the people who accompanied us in this process and who join us day after day to grow Cinco Calles. Starting a project idea without knowing how to approach it, manage it, or achieve the desired results, was a challenge and a risky gamble. In a complicated economic situation, the least we could do was lose money.
However, with the mindset and positivism of knowing that what we were doing with love, care, and affection could not yield bad results. This is how, for me, great things are born. In the face of a complicated situation, there is always the hope that things can be accomplished, and that is what this coffee bean taught me: all the good we do will come back to us in one way or another, and that is how Project Victory was born. I feel extremely grateful, happy, and excited to be part of this project initiated by the Cantook family, led by the great Simon Fabi (Cantook), whose sole mission (from my perspective) is to help a family of producers have a better quality of life through fair work.
Five years later, it is gratifying to see how our coffee is sought after by consumers, roasted to the highest quality standards to offer customers an excellent product. After my visit this year, 2024, to Cantook, I am convinced that what I started one day without knowing exactly where it would lead, only seeking the best for my family, has today borne fruit and become a dream from which I hope I never wake up.
The Victoire project as seen by Cantook
A Travel Encounter
It was by chance encounters that we stumbled upon the Mora family during our last trip to Costa Rica. The Mora family was just beginning their desire to leave the commodity coffee market, free themselves from their dependence on cooperatives, and venture into specialty coffee. After a car accident that could have killed our entire team, the Mora family welcomed us as if we were family. Over a meal prepared by Abel (the father), they shared their challenges and aspirations. They showed us that they had the knowledge, passion, and determination to see their project through. To get started, they needed two things: money and customers. For us, it was the perfect opportunity to contribute and do our part.
purchase of a plot of land for drying
So, we sat down with Steven and Abel and asked them what they needed most to get started and how much we could get involved. What Abel and Steven wanted in the short term was to buy a small piece of land adjacent to theirs and build parabolic drying greenhouses there to secure their harvest and have better control over drying. So, we agreed that with a contribution of US$6,000 that Cantook would finance, the project would be feasible.
For our part, all we asked in return was that this new workspace be named Victoire, after the daughter of Simon, Cantook's founder.
In 2020, we sent them US$6,000 to start the work. We also bought their entire specialty coffee production at a price they determined without negotiation.
