Zapatista Coffee Cooperatives primarily operate in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico following Zapatismo ideology.
[3] In the same period, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund gave generous loans for the development of coffee cultivation in countries that until then were not producing (like Vietnam).
Their income was not enough anymore to cover the production cost, so hundreds of thousands abandoned their lands and emigrated to nearby cities or the U.S.
As a result of their experience and the new relations that EZLN created from the start with the international solidarity movement, an idea was developed; the establishment of the first Zapatista coffee cooperative.
The goal of the producers was to obtain an alternative way of supply and export of the coffee, which would allow them to end their total dependence on intermediaries and the unpredictable global market.
The first coffee cooperative made up exclusively of Zapatistas members was the Mut-vitz ("The Mountain of Birds") in the region San Juan de la Libertad, in the highlands of Chiapas.
But with a common decision, Mut-vitz chose not to accept new members until all producers complete the transitional period of 3 years, for the biological certification of coffee.
In total, there are around 2.500 producers included, while the amount of coffee that goes to the solidarity networks is hundreds of tonnes, depending the special conditions each year.
For as long as the cooperatives develop and improve their functions, they contribute some amount of their income to the autonomous programs of education, health, and to other social structures.
Furthermore, the initiatives and the organizations that participate in the solidarity networks of disposal return some amount of their incomes for the same reasons, to the Zapatista communities.
The building of an effective organizational structure that will respect the horizontal and direct democratic political orientation of the Zapatista movement, was at first their biggest difficulty.
They consciously refuse any kind of help from the Mexican state and deal with the technical and bureaucratic processes only with the support of independent and solidarity organizations in Mexico.