Benjamin Rivera - Washed

I’VE BEEN CULTIVATING COFFEE SINCE 1985, WHEN I STARTED WITH 400 PLANTS OF PACAS…

400, that’s next to nothing, but I had to start somewhere and I couldn’t afford to buy more than 400 plants.

My wife and I planted them right next to our home, so we could tend to them easily, and we depulped our cherries in a small hand-crank machine back then, that required all my strength to operate. I don’t think that I would still be able to do that at my current age.

But, in fact, it is my father who taught me how to grow coffee. I started working with him when I was a boy and once I married and moved to my own home, I decided to continue. My wife and I were the first in El Pinal to cultivate this crop and in the beginning, people around us were surprised. We live at nearly 1,600 meters and thirty, forty years ago, that was really high in our region to grow coffee.

But not much later, neighbors and other people in the village started to take an interest and they even asked for seedlings to start their own experiments. That first harvest, I brought all my coffee to the other side of the border, to Chalatenango in El Salvador. That’s only a few miles from where we live and the Salvadoreans paid more. I received the equivalent of $ 20 for my first load, which was a great deal back then.

Now, of course, I’m a member of Cafesmo and we sell our coffees through the cooperative. I still work with my wife but our children have also joined the coffee business. They all have their own parcels and most are married by now, but we work together as one big family. This new generation does much of the heavy work, while my wife and I have the advantageous of many decades in experience. Together, we can overcome any obstacles.

Farm facts

My wife and I have 3,2 hectares and our land is located at 1560 to 1600 meters.

We cultivate Pacas and IH-café 90 varietals.

There is abundant shadow, provided by: lemon trees, avocado, orange, prune, cypress, cedar, and many other trees.

This farm is Rain Forest Alliance certified.

Our farm is Certified Fair Trade, and Organic.