Agricultural Marketing Agency of the State of Oaxaca, Inc.

Since its inception, CEPCO defined direct exports of its members' coffee as one of its main strategies. To implement the strategy defined in 1990, CEPCO formed the Agricultural Marketing Agency of the State of Oaxaca, Inc. (CAEO).

In the process of implementing this strategy, CEPCO/CAEO created and developed skills ranging from the planning of the annual collection of members' coffee, which has allowed bulk management, as well as offering distinct coffees by type and quality to different markets and buyers, the negotiation of contracts and the use of services to enable the export, billing and collection.

During the process, relationships were established with several importers to whom we were able to sell our product at better prices than the average price achieved by other organizations. Moreover, with the help of some former employees of Inmecafé, who stood by to the organization and its employees, we were able to acquire experience in key areas of the production process and training.

The set of skills acquired, and the activities and services carried out during the last 18 years, have led CEPCO/CAEO's clients to recognize it as a professional corporate enterprise that is capable of establishing extensive trade relations in the medium to long term.

After 18 years in existent, we have managed to gain a relatively successful position in the market. To achieve this, the work of the regional organizations in creating community and regional collection points for members' coffee was instrumental. There are currently a total of 56 coffee collection points, which are operated directly by the organizations using financial resources obtained from the Credit Union and other credit sources acquired from a variety of sources.

Collection and direct marketing allows the organization to play a crucial role in the economy of the coffee-growing regions of Oaxaca: regulating coffee prices in the field to the benefit of small producers.