Roy Hernández and Dariela Mancía, Farm El mandarino (Dariela) and farm Guayabina (Roy)

Both of us were born into coffee growing families and when we married, each of us inherited a small piece of land.

It wasn’t much; together we owned 1,7 hectares when we started. That wasn’t enough to provide for our family, so we both also had to work fulltime formal jobs and then worked on our land and on the preparation of our micro-lots at night and in the weekends; basically whenever we could.

Also, our dads and sometimes our brothers helped us out. In exchange, we offered them our solar dryers, because we have three, which is more than we need for ourselves, and we also help them sell their coffees.

In 2016 we started preparing specialty lots. Each year, we expand our volume as well as the quality and variety of our profiles. We focused mostly on washed coffees in the beginning, but soon became aware that a growing part of Cafesmo’s partners have a preference for natural lots. So, we diversified part of our preparation to natural lots, and to a lesser degree anaerobic batches. The anaerobic preparations are more risky and also require vacuum sealed bags or barrels, which implies more work and an uncertain return on investment.

In 2022, a mere few weeks after Dariela had given birth to their second daughter, Roy participated in a three day workshop with Lucía Solís, the renowned expert in yeast and fermentation processes. The acquired technical knowledge was instrumental in further boosting the quality of the lots that the couple is now able to prepare. After having their second baby, Dariela quit her formal job, partially to look after the newborn, but also to spend more time on preparing micro-lots.

We also were able to buy a bit of extra land with the proceeds of their micro-lots - 0,35 hectares – on which we have planted Catucaí Amarelo 2L. A rare variety for Honduras, which Roy has selected after careful consideration and debate with Cafesmo founder Hidardo Hernández. Additionally, our goal is to plant another 2 hectares in 2023.

And on all of their plots Roy and Dariela have increased the use of organic fertilizer (mostly pulp from their own cherries) and planted additional trees for a better shade / sun ratio. In fact, their main goal for the mid-term future is to sell 70% of their harvest as SCA 86+ micro-lot coffees, and this requires excellent conditions and skills at all levels from A to Z.

Their first micro lots were sold to a roaster in the US in 2017 and it took another two years until they found a second roaster, this time in the UK (Notes Coffee in London). By 2022 however, Roy and Dariela had further expanded their partner base, that now also includes the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, France, and New Zealand.

Establishing and then nurturing these relationships, has boosted Roy and Dariela’s self-confidence enormously, and also consolidated their reputation as a reliable partner that is able to deliver consistently high quality coffees.

Do Roy and Dariela have any dreams for the future left? You bet! To always prepare more and better coffees, of course. But we also want to start proposing ‘cascara’ which we prepare from our organic lots, and for which demand in several parts of the world is growing.

Another dream is to be able to meet more roaster partners, and not only in Honduras (where roasters are always welcome, of course!), but also in one of the countries where Roy and Dariela sell their coffees. The added value of seeing how a roaster works, how they actually roast the greens, how and to whom they sell the end product, would be considerable, as it would allow them to even better adapt preparations to the end consumers’ preferences.

And personal, private dreams as well, of course: Roy and his family are deeply involved as volunteers and fundraisers in the renovation of the local soccer field. At Cafesmo, we suspect that Roy secretly would love for at least one of his little daughters to become a star player on that field one day! And Dariela works hard to put Honduran women and their coffees on the map. Much deserved, because Dariela and the women in her community are hard workers who prepare great coffees that are still too often forgotten or underestimated.

We bet that one day, maybe quite soon, one of their coffees will make it to the cup of excellence finals!

Farm facts

Two plots that total 2 hectares, located between 1,200 and 1,250 meters.

Dariela’s lot is called El Mandarino, Roy’s is Guayabina.

Varieties: Pacas, Obatá and Parainema. Since 2022: Catucaí Amarelo 2L

Shadow is provided by a large variety of trees: pine forest mango, bananas and plantains, also for personal consumption. There are also local trees like guamo, cuanagiquil, and liquidambar.

Certified Fair Trade and Organic and RFA