Carlos Mejía, farm Las Minas

Carlos Senior and Carlos Junior love their finca. And clearly, it loves them back! Finca Las Minas shines like a gem in the land that surrounds it.

The farm is located in a remote area, half an hour by car from the nearest hamlet, where the Mejía family lives. On three sides, there’s forest, a forest that always provides enough water for the coffee trees on the finca and that keeps the climate temperate. Never too warm, and certainly never too cold. 

Even on the land itself, there’s copious shadow, provided by local trees as well as banana plants that grow 6 to 8 meters high. There are some citric trees as well, to provide food for the family as well as their employees. During the harvest season, there are 50 to 60 people employed at Finca Las Minas! Pickers of course, but also people who work at the wet mill, and even a cook to make sure that everyone is fed adequately after a hard day’s labor. 

 Things haven’t always been going as well as nowadays. Carlos Senior is a third generation farmer and he was extremely poor when he was a child. His grandfather already grew coffee in the 1950’s, but he could barely make a living out of it, and Carlos Senior always walked around barefoot, eating two meals a day if he was lucky, none at all on the bad days.

He was never able to study, apart from a few years in primary school, and he knew that in order to secure a stable future for his own family, he’d have to invest everything he had in hard work, great coffee, and schooling opportunities for his three children.

Now, Carlos Junior and his brother are civil engineers, and their sister is a trained psychologist. Little by little, the family has been able to expand their family farm and now they own 35 hectares of fertile land where they grow several varieties of coffee. Carlos Junior works along his father every day, while his brother and sister help out during the busy season.

The Mejía’s have also built their own wet mill, a mechanical dryer, and a roofed patio to store pulp, which is used to fertilize the coffee plants a few months after each harvest. Now, thanks to seven decades of experience and knowhow acquired over four generations, the family is able to cultivate consistent, homogeneous high quality coffees.

Through extraordinary effort and perseverance, they have come a long way since Carlos Senior was a young boy who walked around barefoot and rarely with his belly filled. But that doesn’t mean that they are resting on their laurels. On the contrary, the family is as united and motivated as always. And besides, a fifth generation will be eager to take over the reins before you know it, so the current generation better keep going, growing, and glowing!

Farm Facts

35 hectares at 1500 to 1650 meters.

Shadow provided by local trees, banana trees, some citric fruit trees.

Main varietals: Lempira, Catimore, Pacas, Colombia, Parainema, Obata. A Little bit of AnaCafé14.

This farm is certified organic, fair trade, and RFA.