What CENCOIC does

CENCOIC (Central Cooperativa Indígena del Cauca) is a Colombian non-profit solidarity-economy cooperative founded in 1980 and headquartered in Popayán, Cauca. It aggregates indigenous resguardos and cabildos through the regional indigenous council (CRIC) and operates three business lines under a single ESAL (entidad sin ánimo de lucro) structure supervised by the Superintendencia de la Economía Solidaria: (1) production, commercialization, and export of specialty organic coffee under EU Organic, Cafe Practices, and SPP certifications into six international markets (England, France, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Germany); (2) distribution of ethical and generic medications, hospital supplies, and biomedical equipment to indigenous health institutions including AIC-EPSI across Cauca municipalities; and (3) the Economia Propia department, which runs a physical supermarket in Piendamó plus a multi-category commerce operation spanning agricultural products, grains, stationery, hardware, produce, dairy and meats, cultural crafts, technology, transportation, and household goods for indigenous communities.

Its proprietary technology stack is modest and operationally focused: a Web and Android application for per-producer and per-parcel tracking that enables farm-to-export traceability, an in-house coffee quality control laboratory that supports certification compliance, and a specialized export technical team that handles commerce and quality roles. The cooperative sells directly to international coffee buyers (named relationships include D.R. Wakefield & Co Limited and Cafeology), supplies the AIC-EPSI health provider institutionally, and runs a branded Café A'te Sek line available in Traditional and Gourmet varieties across its own retail and regional chain stores.

Revenue mechanics are primarily transactional across all three lines (coffee export volumes, medication supply contracts, retail and wholesale sales under Economia Propia) with no disclosed pricing models or per-unit economics; as an ESAL, CENCOIC does not publicly report revenue. Partnerships with the Rabobank Foundation and Progreso underwrote the Café A'te Sek product build-out in 2016, while the 2022 Wakefield and Cafeology commercial engagements signal active outbound expansion of export channels.

Name

CENCOIC

Legal name

Central Cooperativa Indígena del Cauca – Cencoic

Website

https://cencoic.com.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CENCOIC is a Colombian indigenous cooperative that aggregates Cauca resguardos and cabildos to produce and export specialty organic coffee, distribute medications to indigenous health institutions, and operate a multi-category indigenous commerce platform including its Café A'te Sek brand.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee Production and Cooperative Distribution Services

NAICS

Beverage Manufacturing (3121), Other Specialty Food Retailers (44529)

SIC

Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Coffee & Cacao Plantations (Coffee, Cocoa) (AFAGACAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Fair Trade & Ethical Supply Chains (Certification, Traceability, Producer Support) (BPAGALAL)

Keywords

• Organic coffee export
• Fair trade coffee
• Pharmaceutical distribution
• Indigenous cooperative commerce
• Specialty coffee production

Headquarters

HQ city

Popayán

HQ country

Colombia

HQ region

Latin America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Coffee Export: Production, commercialization and export of special organic coffee. CENCOIC exports to England, France, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and Germany through fair trade channels. The cooperative works with indigenous coffee producer families organized through cabildos and resguardos.
2. Medications and Hospital Supplies: Commercialization and distribution of ethical medications, generics, hospital supplies, and medical devices to indigenous communities and health institutions. Serves EPSI (Indigenous Health Provider - AIC) and other institutions.
3. Economia Propia (Indigenous Economy): Commercialization of various goods and services required by indigenous communities and structures including groceries, hardware, stationery, household items, agricultural equipment, sports equipment, musical instruments, educational materials, cultural crafts, and transportation services.
4. Cafe A'te Sek Brand: Retail sales of branded coffee products A'te Sek in traditional and gourmet varieties (250g and 500g packaging) through their own supermarket and online platform.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CENCOIC is an indigenous cooperative that produces, commercializes, and exports organic specialty coffee (including the branded Café A'te Sek line), distributes ethical medications and hospital supplies to indigenous health institutions, and operates the Economía Propia commercialization platform supplying groceries, hardware, agricultural goods, cultural crafts, and household items to indigenous communities across the Cauca department of Colombia.

Product overview

CENCOIC operates as a multi-service indigenous cooperative providing three core business lines: (1) Coffee production, export, and the branded Café A'te Sek product line featuring organic specialty coffee in Traditional and Gourmet variants; (2) Medications and hospital supplies distribution serving indigenous health institutions; and (3) Economía Propia - a comprehensive commercialization platform for goods and services including agricultural products, groceries, hardware, stationery, dairy/meats, cultural crafts, technology, transportation, and household items across indigenous communities in Cauca department.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Café A'te Sek: Organic and specialty coffee brand produced sustainably by indigenous communities of CENCOIC-CRIC in the mountains of north, northeast, west, and center of Cauca department. Available in traditional and gourmet varieties in 250g and 500g packaging.

Products and services

• Organic Coffee Production and Export Production, commercialization, and export of special and organic coffee from indigenous producers in Cauca, serving international fair trade buyers in England, France, Australia, New Zealand, USA, and Germany. Emphasizes sustainable farming practices and fair trade principles with farm-to-export traceability.
• Café A'te Sek Premium roasted and ground specialty coffee brand produced sustainably by indigenous communities of CENCOIC-CRIC in the mountains of northern, northeastern, western, and central Cauca. Available in Traditional (250g) and Gourmet (250g and 500g) variants with organic and fair trade certifications.
• Medications and Hospital Supplies Distribution Commercialization and distribution of ethical and generic medications, biomedical equipment, and medical health devices for indigenous communities and health institutions (EPSI/AIC), including POS and non-POS medication dispensing services.
• Economía Propia (Own Economy Commercialization) Commercialization of diverse goods and services for indigenous communities and structures, including agricultural products, groceries, education supplies, hardware, dairy and meats, cultural crafts, technology, transportation, and household items, sold through the own retail supermarket in Piendamó and the economiapropia.com online store.

Quantifiable outcome

• Positioning in regional market for Cafe A'te Sek
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• D.R. WAKEFIELD & CO LIMITEDcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 16 May 2022D.R. WAKEFIELD & CO LIMITED, an international coffee trading company, visited CENCOIC facilities in May 2022 to explore business relationships with CENCOIC's indigenous coffee producer network.
• CafeologycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 16 May 2022Cafeology, a coffee roasting company, accompanied the D.R. WAKEFIELD visit in May 2022, exploring sourcing opportunities for specialty indigenous coffee.
• AIC - EPSI (Aseguradora Indígena en Salud)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAIC-EPSI is the Indigenous Health Insurance Provider for which CENCOIC provides medication dispensing and supply services to indigenous communities across Cauca department municipalities. This is a core operational partnership.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Cooperativa de Productores de Café de Nariño: Regional Colombian specialty-coffee cooperative focused on Nariño-origin coffee with export channels—analogous regional small-grower model to CENCOIC's Cauca-export operation.
• Cooperativa de Caficultores del Cauca: Regional Cauca coffee-growers' cooperative historically active in green-bean commercialization; overlapping geography and producer base with CENCOIC.

Broad incumbents

• Olam Coffee (ofi): One of the world's largest coffee traders (now ofi after 2020 carve-out) sourcing from multiple origins including Colombia, providing the global scale buyer benchmark against which CENCOIC's specialty positioning competes.
• ECOM Trading / ECOM Agroindustrial: Global coffee merchant and sustainable-sourcing operator running proprietary sustainability programs; competes with CENCOIC for the same pool of certified specialty roaster buyers.
• Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (FNC): Colombia's national coffee federation aggregating hundreds of thousands of producers and managing exports of washed/ specialty coffee. A broad incumbent in the same industry that competes at scale and on certification with CENCOIC's export business.
• Starbucks C.A.F.E. Practices Program: Large-scale sustainable-sourcing program by Starbucks; while a customer-of-suppliers model rather than a peer, it competes in setting certification standards (C.A.F.E. Practices) that overlap with CENCOIC's Cafe Practices certification.

Direct peers

• Fondo Páez: Colombian indigenous coffee cooperative in Cauca also producing organic, fair-trade coffee from Páez-indigenous producers with international specialty buyers. Most directly comparable to CENCOIC in governance model, geography, and product.
• ASOANEI (Asociación de Productores Agroindustriales y de Exportación de la Zona Andina): Association of indigenous small producers in Nariño, Colombia specializing in organic, fair-trade coffee exports to Europe/US. Closest geographic and governance analog to CENCOIC among indigenous coffee exporters.

Emerging players

• Cooperative Coffees: US-based cooperative of small-batch roasters collectively importing fair-trade, organic coffee—including Colombian origin—through shared supply chains. Comparable in cooperative model and fair-trade specialty focus, though buyer-side rather than producer-side.

Others

• Fairtrade International (FLOCERT): Standards body and certifier behind Fairtrade labelling; an ecosystem enabler that intersects with CENCOIC's fair-trade positioning, SPP certification, and access to European ethical-consumer markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cencoic

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CENCOIC