Since we began sourcing and roasting coffee in 2007, we have built strong relationships with remarkable people in the coffee industry. As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we want to share their stories with you. We’ve chosen to highlight two coffees from Hunapú—both the collective Hunapú lot and a single farmer lot from Fidel Raxcacó.
Fidel is, an agronomist and coffee farmer with over 25 years experience and he’s who has been working with Beneficio Bella Vista for seven years, helping smallholder producers improve their coffee quality. Using environmentally regenerative processes to support crop resiliency and health, Fidel grows coffee on two smaller plots in Antigua.
How did you start working in coffee?
I am an agronomist and I worked in technical training with Anacafé for 16 years. While I worked there someone sold me a small portion of land so I could practice what I knew in theory. And I started working the land to improve my understanding of coffee and to learn how to increase productivity.
Then I got an opportunity at Bella Vista supporting small producers but in the Antigua Region. There I met Luis Pedro Zelaya and have been working with him for 6 years.
What inspires you to keep working in coffee? What do you like about farming?
It’s hard to change from one crop to another. Plus I am growing old and it is not easy to make a huge shift at this point. But I love coffee and it keeps me entertained and alive. I really love what I do. Coffee is Dynamic. Every month the activities change and if you don’t execute correctly, the productivity goes down. I love to help small producers understand how to manage their plantations better, though I honestly believe they teach me more than I teach them.
Describe your coffee.
I grow only varieties like Bourbon and Caturra, which have the potential for great quality.
What are the biggest changes you’ve seen during your time growing coffee?
The effect of climate change, stressed plants, lower productivity, increase in costs of labor and farm supplies.
What do you want people to know about coffee production?
That producers are struggling with plantations due to an increase in costs, and now we are struggling with the shortage of labor.
What would you like to do on your farm in the next few years?
Continue working with coffee. I am growing old, so I am working the land until I have my girls inherit it. I hope either they or my grandchildren want to continue working with coffee. I have added bananas to the plantation to make it more interesting.
What is your personal coffee ritual? Do you enjoy drinking your own coffee?
YES!! I have coffee with breakfast and at snack time. I like it black and sometimes with milk too.
