BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Coffee is a significant part of the Pacific Northwest culture, yet the people who cultivate the raw materials that create the steaming cup of joe or cold brew you have in the morning are often left out of the economic opportunities that come with such a cash crop. At Cof&—pronounced “Cofy”—connecting growers with the java appreciator is only part of the story.

Cof&’s best-selling Capuccino Gold which includes latte art and a honey/almond powder-encrusted rim next to one of the Colombian sandwiches the cafe sells. Photo by Emma Toscani

When Heimy Gonzalez and Oscar Quintero were looking for a place to move their family, where Quintero’s mother lived seemed like the right choice. They chose Bellingham after visiting regularly in the summers for years prior.

“In the beginning we were trying to decide between Bellingham and Miami, that is in the South. But to say no, if we’re going to have a change, a real change, in our life, the North is a better option,” Quintero said. “Washington and Oregon are the two states where people consume more coffee in the whole country. So, because we have in our mind the coffee business, that was another thing that helped us to decide to go here.”

Quintero said Gonzalez and their daughter were potentially targets of kidnapping, which spurred their exodus from Colombia several years ago.

The couple had intentions of bringing the Santander department of Columbia’s coffee to the U.S., realizing their dream with the opening of Colombia and Coffee—also known as Cof&—in 2018 and subsequent brick-and-mortar cafe on Kentucky Street before settling on Cornwall Avenue in Bellingham. The business was Gonzalez’s, but Quintero helped get the cafe off the ground before returning to his profession as an electrical engineer. Quintero now works in a Bremerton office four days a week, coming home Friday to spend the weekend with his family.

“We realize that more than sell coffee, we sell our culture, and people like it. It’s something new for us, because the first idea when we run this business say, ‘Okay, we’re going to have a coffee shop for Colombian people,’ and we don’t have Colombian people coming here, like the 99% of our customers are people from here that like our culture, that is looking for something different. So, we feel [that] we are a point of interchange of culture.” – Oscar Quintero

According to Quintero, Santander coffee is known for its smaller batches and high quality in addition to its lower popularity on the artisanal coffee market. Cof& touts its single-origin label with consistently high ratings from the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). Single origin is a term used for coffee beans that all came from the same farm.

On each bag of Cof&’s coffee, a label has information on the bean’s origin with details including the altitude that the beans were grown. That same label also has a score from the SCA that rates the quality of the beans within the batch. Quintero says their coffee is always above the 80 threshold, with scores regularly approaching 90—a difficult score to achieve.

The quality is not the only thing that sets Cof& apart from other roasters. Cof& is a fair-trade company that pays the farmers in Santander directly for their work in cultivating the treasured beans.

“When you have a special coffee, the price is different, so the price is like a negotiation with the farmer. For example, the farmers say, ‘Okay, my score is 86 so I’m going to ask 20% more of the market cost.’ So, for that reason, I say that is real fair trade, because we pay more to the farmers than the regular market [pays],” Quintero said.

Gonzalez also designs and creates her own jewelry, selling it from a room in Cof&’s Cornwall business. PHIA showcases Gonzalez’s work as well as fashion accessories and clothing from Colombian artisans and designers. Gonzalez notes the relationship the fair-trade character of the business, mirroring their core coffee business model. She said there is no online store for the items she sells through PHIA as their team is very small.

 

PHIA is a boutique retailer operating out of a space in Cof& on Cornwall Avenue. Owner and designer Heimy Gonzalez wanted to bring handmade products from Colombian artisans to the Pacific Northwest. Photo by Emma Toscani

Gonzalez and Quintero’s three children attend public schools in Bellingham, and said, for the most part, they are all very happy here. Gonzalez noted that her children have experienced some racism in the community, but it is limited. Quintero recounted a story where an adult talked down to their son, asking him to speak English rather than Spanish among other comments.

“It’s part of the reality that there is a lot of Latino voice, that there is not an adult. Everybody’s working, so the child is like alone. So, some adults feel that they can do anything with the kids, and nobody’s going to come and talk for them. But in our case, I speak English. I am with my kids. We are aware of this all the time, so we can, we can do something,” Quintero said.

As legal immigrants, Gonzalez and Quintero say they have not felt fear for deportation or received negative reactions from the community for their presence. The couple noted that the discrimination they have experienced is similar to what they would experience elsewhere.

“We enter to this country in a legal way. [We are] businesspeople. We are trying. We pay our taxes. We are creating employees. I’m a professional. I feel that I’m giving to this country my knowledge. We are good citizens. We are not criminal persons. We don’t have any issue with nobody. So, we don’t feel scared. We don’t feel scared. We feel okay. The only thing is that the only little thing when I say little is because I think that somebody, nobody’s perfect. But the sad thing is when, when somebody have a problem with you, I feel that they that the way that they have to like to offend you is your race,” Quintero said.

“We want [to] participate in the community, learning this culture, because I like [it], but we want the people [to] know with culture and meets the culture, because this is my new home. I feel this is because I feel segura, safe,” Gonzalez said.

Quintero said that their previous city of Bucaramanga is similar in size and development to Bellingham and enjoys the small-town feel over a larger city.

“The other thing is that we come from a small city, so we’re familiar with this kind of life in small city. Normally, people [are] there. So, they are like real communities. Now you start to see the same people,” he said. “We don’t like the huge cities for that reason, because I feel that in big cities, there is no real community. The people [are] moving all the time.”

In the new year, Gonzalez hopes to open a full kitchen at the cafe to serve an expanded menu of Colombian food. They also want to increase their events and further utilize the stage in the cafe, such as their regular Salsa nights and other events that celebrate Colombian culture.

To find out more information about Cof&, head to their website at colcofy.com.

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