Cafe Rebelde Zapatista coffee

100% Arabica Fairtrade coffee bought to you by Essential supports lifelong clean water projects

Essential Trading, the vegan and vegetarian specialist, is proud to distribute this full flavoured 100% Arabica coffee, Cafe Rebelde Zapatista Coffee, from the heart of the jungles of Mexico.

The coffee, which is available in beans or ground, is grown and shipped by Chiapas communities operating on a fair trade system by KIPTIK and the Zapatistas. KIPTIK is a UK-based solidarity group, the name means "strength" - which works directly with the Zapatista communities of Chiapas in Mexico.

The Zapatistas are a group of autonomous indigenous people in southern Mexico who have reclaimed 50,000 hectares of land in eastern Chiapas, which is farmed by around 200,000 people from 1,000 villages.

Hundreds of new Zapatista communities have been set up on these lands, providing a means of survival for families that would otherwise be forced to become slum-dwelling city labourers. The communities have set about creating their own autonomous government system, health, education, water and food production infrastructure.

Funds from the sale of Cafe Rebelde Zapatista are used directly for a number of water projects. An average water system for 300 people costs around 4,000 pounds, about 13 pounds per person. Although they can be constructed in less than two months, they have an average lifespan of 20 years! KIPTIK primarily works with the communities to help build drinking water systems. These improve levels of health by providing a supply of clean water, drastically reducing infant mortality rates and illness due to water-born diseases. This also reduces the burden on women, who often have to carry water for large distances.

Cafe Rebelde Zapatista Coffee Beans are available in cases of 10 * 500g (Organic and Fairtrade)

Cafe Rebelde Zapatista Coffee Ground is available in cases of 24 * 250g (Organic and Fairtrade)

For every kilo of Zapatista coffee we sell, 0.4 Euro is donated to Kiptic.

To date, 4248 pounds has been donated by Essential and in 2009 a difficult water project was completed which provides water to 150 people; around 15 families.

The following is from the Kiptik website: "The aim of KIPTIK is to support the Zapatista struggle directly through the construction of drinking water systems, ecological stoves, solar panel systems, and mural projects. We think that hands-on solidarity work is a way of joining struggles and cultures worldwide in order to find common ground and shared solutions to the problems we are all facing".