Built to Last in Guatemala
We recently had the honor of meeting a young and remarkably impressive coffee farmer in Guatemala by the name of Luisa Rodriguez.
Her fascinating story started 5 generations ago in the 1800’s where her ancestors planted the very coffee trees in an area now known as Agua Dulce. A remarkably high percentage of their descendants are now coffee farmers. They like to say “coffee runs in our veins.”
5 generations later Luisa took the reins of her family farm as the first woman to do so in her entire family tree. She now runs her family’s farm, cafe and roastery. Don’t let her size and soft manner fool you. Luisa is truly a force of nature. She’s a chemical engineer with a masters degree in coffee science and economics where she studied abroad in Italy. She’s a Q-grader for Arabica and Robusta coffees with which she is a quality control manager for a coffee exporter. She’s also an avid pianist and yoga instructor in her free time. With all of that somehow she still manages to lead weekly cupping workshops in her cafe, continuously enriching and educating her community.
"Sometimes I think what my grandfather and great-great-grandfather would feel knowing that their grandchildren are coffee tasters, entrepreneurs and have coffee brands that go to all parts of the world. On the other hand, my dad, even though he didn't believe in me at first, I am happy to say that after many years he is very proud of me, and of what I have achieved. We are a coffee family, a legacy of work.” -Luisa Rodriguez
Her family farm throughout the generations has weathered some impossible storms but through it all they have time and time again emerged strong and steadily trudging forward.