Our Farmers
Farmer to Farmer’s coffee project is committed to developing markets for really good coffee, grown sustainably by farmers in Central America. By forging new relationships and marketing opportunities, these innovative farmers are able to improve their lives. They are proud to educate their children, support their communities and maintain the dignity of their ancestral traditions.
Farmer to Farmer pays above “fair trade” prices to contribute to the efforts of local people to build a diverse and sustainable economy.
La Democrácia, Huehuetenango, Guatemala
Our Guatemalan coffee is grown by Mam Maya women farmers. The women are members of the Asociación Unión de Pequeños Caficultores ( Small Coffee Farmers Association) UPC in La Democrácia, and are involved in the decision making of the coop and involved with the coffee from the seed to the shipping out of the country. They live and farm in the mountains of Huehuetenango, close to the border of Mexico. Deep volcanic soil, warm days and cool nights provide ideal conditions for these farmers to cultivate and harvest some of the world’s best Arabica coffee.
The cooperative closely monitors the quality of the beans to ensure the finest coffee. This is great organic coffee, with rich flavor and aroma…and receives high praise from our artisan roaster. We are very honored to be working with these amazing women.
Amanda Jeronimo Morales
Amanda Jeronimo Morales and her husband, Jacinto live and grow in San Isidro. They began growing coffee in 1990. They grew up in a small town in the mountains of Huehuetenango.
Irma Violeta Lopéz
Irma and her husband Jobino have six children. Their parents and grandparents grew coffee. They make their own fertilizer from the coffee fruit mixed with manure from their horses and cows.
Orfa Floresmilda Costanza Cobon
Orfa lives in Santo Domingo and is a leader in UPC. She has three children. Her husband and eldest son work in the US Dec-June. Some UPC members bake bread together once a week at her house to sell and supply their families.
Mary Luz Lucas
Mary Luz lives high in the mountains near the small town of La Democracia, Huehuetenango. She is a mother of four, and has been a member of the women’s coffee group since it was founded, ten years ago.
Elsa Lucas Escalante
Elsa farms in the mountains of Huehuetenango. She grew up farming. Her land was handed down to her from her parents, who got it from their parents. She is a mother of seven children (six living) and a grandmother of 14.
Juanita
Juanita is married to Saul and they have six children. Their beautiful farm is 35 minutes up rugged roads into the mountains. Juanita is proud of her coffee and her family. When you walk in her coffee field it was striking how healthy the plants are.
Blandi Maricel Constanza
Blandi is a mother of three daughters, living in Santa Domingo. She grew up on a farm where her parents grew corn and beans. Today her parents, brother, sister, and 13 nephews and nieces are all involved in coffee growing. It’s the true definition of a family business.
Inocenta Cobon Matias
Inocenta lives in the mountains of Huehuetenango. She grew up on a small farm in the same area, where her parents grew corn and beans. Her daughters Blondi and Orfa live nearby and also grow coffee for Farmer to Farmer.
Prudencia Irene Monzón Martínez
Prudencia lives up high in the mountains outside of La Democracia with her husband Julian, and granddaughter. She grew up growing coffee and is happy to be a part of UPC for the higher price she for her coffee and the trainings.
Mt. Comayagua, Honduras
Our Organic Honduran Cloudforest coffee is a delicious, well-balanced blend, with excellent flavor in both Medium and French roasts. The coffee is grown adjacent to the Mt. Comayagua National Park. By farming organically, these farmers are actively participating in preserving this threatened cloudforest.
Andy Gaertner, our former board president, spent three years in Honduras with the Peace Corp working with these farmers. He’s excited to have renewed friendships there. These farmers have been struggling for years to get a fair price for their coffee. Farmer to Farmer is happy to be able to offer them a far higher price as well as access to North American markets.
Our direct relationship is the best way to ensure the farmers get the price they deserve for their coffee while they continue to preserve the cloudforest of Mt. Comayagua.
Francisco Alvarado Medina
Don Chico has a little over four acres of organic coffee in El Sute, Honduras, and is converting more land into organic production. He has chickens, pigs, horses, and a few milk cows, and he collects manure to make prepared composts.
Don Adalid Zavala
Don Adalid, is former president of COFEACOMA, and he recently passed the reins to his son, Alex (Disney). Don Adalid is still involved in the co-op and still builds and repairs machines such as coffee de-pulpers and coffee roasters. He’s very innovative and resourceful and often is able to build fully functioning machines from scrap metal and second-hand parts. He’s a quiet, hardworking man.
Don Arnulfo
Don Arnulfo and his family live in the village of El Sute, high on the southeast side of the Comayagua Mountain Range. Don Arnulfo's coffee reflects a high level of care and consistently scores amongst the highest.
Don Leopolo (Polo) Euceda
There was a wave of enthusiasm around El Tamarindo for the organic coffee co-op COFEACOMA. There were meetings and visits to coffee farms. From that group of farmers only Don Polo is left. The organic coffee route is not easy.
Benito Perez
Benito (pictured) and his brother Maximo (Moncho) Perez are producers for the coffee co-op in, Las Moras. Benito is shy and all the coffee farmers in the co-op know it, but they also know that his coffee is consistently rated with the highest cupping scores in the co-op.
Román Hernandez
Román farms in Los Cedros, and is one of the old guard of the coffee co-op. When the organic coffee co-op first started many farmers, like Román, were organic by default. They had never used chemicals and had their coffee already growing under shade trees.