Marta lidia alvarado, Finca Concepción

My husband and I work together…

But he is better at admin, selling the coffee to the cooperative, and looking after the money, while I like to be on the land to look after the finca, keep it clean, and of course to harvest.

I’ve learned to pick the beans just when they are at their ripest moment, for the sweetest and most complex taste. In the beginning of 2019, I’ve prepared our first micro-lot and we scored 85,5. Unbelievable! It has given me incredible motivation to transform myself into a small specialty bean supplier. After years of selling our coffee as conventional, it was a huge breakthrough to obtain the Fair Trade and Organic certifications, which helped us stay afloat financially. 

But if we manage to prepare a reasonable percentage of our coffees as premium and specialty micro-lots, we can enjoy a new level of satisfaction and pride in our work, while at the same time making enough income to stop worrying every day  if we can feed and educate our children. 

Still, despite the financial precocity of our family, we’re better off than our siblings, who have stayed in the lower villages where my husband and I grew up. Thirteen years ago we took a risk, by leaving the numbing safety of our trusted surroundings and moving to the village of Mercedes, at 1,400 meters, to grow coffee. But we haven’t regretted it, for we are faring better than those who stayed behind, in the valley.

We’ll see what the future has in store for us. This year and the next, I will continue to focus on specialty preparations. I’ve processed a natural lot of parainema beans recently and am currently waiting for the profile. Cafesmo’s Q-grader promised to cup it for us. Exciting, and there is so much more to explore in this new realm!

Farm facts

We own 2,3 hectares of land, located at 1,320 meters in an area close to our home, with lots of shadow, mostly because we’re surrounded by pine trees and have also many on our land, but also because we grow guamo and other local trees.

Our main varieties are IHCAFE 90 and lempira, but recently we’ve sown some obata and parainema, because they are more resistant to rust, and the larger parainema bean is perfect for specialty preparations.

Our coffee is FTO certified.

This farm is Rain Forest Alliance certified.