The Pausa Café cooperative came into being to rehabilitate inmates professionally and to improve the working conditions of small coffee growers in Central America through an international partnership of producers, processors and consumers. At Turin’s Lorusso e Cutugno prison, the cooperative roasts Huehuetenango Highland coffee from Guatemala and Camapara Mountain coffee from Honduras, cultivated at high-altitudes by Slow Food Presidium producers. Pausa Café also supports communities in their reforestation of the Celaque National Park in Honduras and in the creation of a nursery to safeguard traditional coffee varieties and protect biodiversity. It promotes the traceability of roasted gourmet coffees, restoring dignity and independence to producers. At Alessandria prison inmates bake products made with organic flours and naturally leavened using sourdough in a wood oven.
