La Coop Coffee

La Coop Coffee is a coffee shop in Arlington, VA, located at 4807 1st St N. It serves specialty coffee from Guatemala and holds a 5.00 rating based on one review.

La Coop is a family owned and operated business that spans the coffee value chain, from Union Cantinil, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, to Washington, D.C. Juan Luis Salazar Cano, founder and CEO of the social enterprise La Coop Coffee Company, is an agronomist and the son of a coffee farmer from Union Cantinil. In 2006 he brought together a group of coffee farmers from his hometown to form the Asociacion de Caficultores de Union Cantinil (ASOCUC), with the goal of empowering farmers to earn a fair price for their specialty coffee. ASOCUC introduced environmentally-friendly farming techniques, quality controls, and a micro-loan program, which led to better quality beans, higher earning potential for farmers, and social impact in Union Cantinil. In its first year as a formal association, ASOCUC sold its collective harvest to one of the most prominent coffee companies in the world. More than ten years on, its members collectively produce over 200,000 lbs of specialty coffee every year while investing in the health and education of their families and community.

The Arlington shop opened in February 2023, in the same neighborhood where the business got its start as a vendor at the Lubber Run Farmer's Market. The shop sits on 1st St N, a short walk from Arlington Forest Park and Lubber Run Park, and about a quarter mile from the Lubber Run Amphitheater and Lubber Run creek. Arlington Boulevard runs just past the shop, and the Arlington Forest neighborhood is nearby.

The business is family owned and operated from the beginning of the value chain in Guatemala to the end in Washington, D.C., and it has earned a positive rating from the customers who have reviewed it.

For Arlington coffee drinkers, La Coop brings a Guatemalan harvest and a farmer-founded social enterprise to a corner of the Arlington Forest neighborhood.