Immersion Program
Cultural Immersion Opportunities with Guatemalan Coffee Producing Communities
The De La Gente Immersion program is a tangible way to raise awareness about coffee production and all the actors involved, from coffee growers to consumers. Immersion Program offerings—whether an Origin Trip, Faculty-led Trip, or Immersion Trip—all provide authentic, cultural immersion experiences that seek to educate participants about the inner workings of the coffee industry and its impact on the Guatemalan coffee-producing communities in which we work.
We provide context through immersive, hands-on, and informational trip itineraries that delve into coffee's complex and often tragic history in Guatemala and the ongoing legacy of undervaluing and exploiting coffee growers for their labor. Whether you’re a roaster, university professor, or simply a coffee enthusiast or consumer, all our Immersion Program offerings show how we’re giving agency to farmers to prove that coffee growing, when paired with processing expertise and market access, can be a tool of economic empowerment.
Origin Trips
Authentic and engaging trips to the origin of coffee alongside coffee growers
Designed for roasters, baristas, and wholesale green coffee buyers, Origin Trips takes coffee professionals to the coffee origin for an eye-opening, cultural immersion experience in which they’re to forge relationships with small-scale coffee growers and more conscientiously examine their role with the coffee industry.
Immersion Trips
Authentic cultural immersion experiences with small-scale coffee growers
Immersion Trips are crafted for coffee enthusiasts seeking to understand coffee cultivation's intricacies better and interact with small-scale coffee growers. Trip itineraries take participants into the farmers’ fields and homes to learn first-hand about the work involved in producing a cup of specialty coffee.
Faculty-Led Trips
Experiential learning trips based in Guatemalan coffee-producing communities
In collaboration with academic institutions and experiential learning programs, we implement faculty-led trips that use coffee better to understand the legacy of colonialism and imperialism in Guatemala. After understanding the complex history of coffee, participants interact with coffee growers to hear firsthand how they’re now using coffee as a tool for their empowerment.
