MUSKEGON, Mich. — Aldea Coffee, a staple in both Muskegon and Grand Haven, imports the coffee they serve to customers from Honduran farmers.
The coffee shop serves specialty coffee to remain true to their roots. They began as a nonprofit called Aldea Development in a small region of Honduras, La Unión.
The nonprofit kick-started in 2009, solely providing microloans to coffee, corn and bean farmers.
"We were just a community development organization that just kind of ended up blooming into a coffee company after a few years, just as a way to assist the farmers in that region, because they were growing incredible coffee, and they just needed to learn a little bit about specialty coffee processing, and then have someone who is willing to export the coffee," said Aldea Coffee Creative Director, Elly Kuyt.
WATCH: West Michigan coffee shop brings directly sourced Honduran beans to customers
Six years after the start of Aldea Development, two coffee shops opened in West Michigan.
The Grand Haven location launched in 2015, expanding to Muskegon in 2019.
Kuyt says what continues to separate Aldea Coffee from other community coffee shops is their partnership with Honduran farmers.
"We purchase only coffee that is above specialty grade rates, and then we have really, really thorough processes that ensure that the coffee that we're selling here is some of the best you can get around," Kuyt said.
Aldea Coffee is also a Certified B Corporation, which ensures quality sourcing and sustainability standards.
"We're really focused on sustainability in a broader sense of environmental sustainability, as well as sustainability throughout the sourcing," Kuyt said. "So, from the farmers to you."
They compost all their coffee grounds, and the coffee bags are 100% recyclable.
From the plants to your cup, Kuyt says you can see how the coffee is curated.
Importantly, Kuyt adds they're grounded in community, never forgetting their namesake.
"The word Aldea literally means community in Spanish," Kuyt explained. "So we work directly with the communities there, the little villages there."
Kuyt emphasizes the coffee shop's continued goal to grow their wholesale program, selling coffee to more businesses and grocery stores around town.
For more information on Aldea Development, or if you'd like to donate to the nonprofit, click here.
