Las Flores, Santa Barbara, Honduras
A familiar coffee farmer story is one of tending to your own coffee plants and being a part of a family legacy; inheriting farms from grandparents and parents who produced coffee, and then passing that knowledge on to your children. Luis Delcid’s story is a departure from this narrative, albeit rooted in a strong ambition to one day become a coffee farmer himself.
Now, in 2019 he has indeed become one.
For thirty years, Luis Delcid was helping out at the local dry mill, working as a handyman, driving the San Vicente truck up and down the hillsides of Santa Barbara and Las Vegas, collecting coffee bags from farmers that didn’t have the means to do so themselves. Back in those days, most of the coffee was brought down as mojado, meaning wet, or semi-wet, thus part of his job was to dry the coffee for the farmers too, on the cement patio - in the sun - by the dry mill.
Since the early 2000’s several of the farmers in these communities started getting recognised for their coffees in Cup of Excellence, and slowly, the whole Santa Barbara mountain where he was working, was becoming famous for the coffee -- he was only transporting it.
Then, in 2012 he dared to test his luck within the coffee industry; buying a little over 4 hectares to start his own farm. With money in savings, a little help from his employer and his unmatched determination, Luis had what he needed to front the three or four years he estimated to get a coffee farm up and running. He named the land Flor de la Peña, which translates to “The Flower on the Cliff,” due to the rocky terrain. Here, he planted Yellow Catuaí, Bourbon, Pacamara, Pacas and, well, Geisha.
The farm was at a good attitude, yet the geographic location and microclimatic conditions were challenging, requiring a lot more attention to the coffee trees than he could spare (having a full time job already). And in any case, starting from scratch, the first three years of being a farmer is basically only investment, work, maintenance and waiting. And biting nails.
We like to say that we met Luis through the “Friend of Friends” principle. The foundation being that it’s sometimes easier to build relationships with friends or family of farmers who we are already trading with. We had already known Luis for several years, having met him through San Vincente — the exporter that organizes and ships our coffees from Santa Barbara. Back then, we saw the long-term potential in Flor de la Peña and Luis due to his dedication and care. And with an ambition to succeed.
The 2014 harvest was one of perfect harmony. Luis also took the season to put a new stroke of paint on the farm, patched the roof, and focused on investing in electricity. He had the vision of not only maintaining Flor de la Peña, but nurturing the farm to greatness. Like many Honduran coffee farmers, however, he was hit hard by cold weather, trees “burnt” by frost (!) and other common obstacles such as labor shortages, and complications. Basically, the learning lesson was that it wasn’t going to be profitable, and in 2016, after having given his all to that piece of land, he gave it up. Or rather, he sold it to one who wanted that challenge, and took the money looking for a farm where he also had to start from scratch, building a wet mill and all on the premises.
Much to the delight of our team, Luis rose to the test, and with the same energy, and big smile as always, he did it again. The new farmland is in a different area of Las Flores, a tad higher actually but the road is better and the climate is more favorable. He skipped the Geisha, and planted Parainema instead. As a homage to his start in 2012, the farm bears the same name, Flor de la Peña. And the coffee lots we have received from him his 2019 harvest come from the trees he planted in 2016.
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One of the containers from Honduras that we landed in Europe this fall, had a few bags for KAFFA Roastery in Oslo from Luis Delcid in it. KAFFA had already chosen a lot from one of his well made Parainemas to present in the Nordic Roaster Forum competition. With a gentle roast and a masterful craft by Trude S. Løken she brought it to a silver medal in NRF, for Luis that was good as gold!
Despite all of the struggles Delcid has faced, he takes great pride in good husbandry and processing craft, and he faces each day with the same strength he showed while tirelessly driving the hills, and in the end, taking the risk, twice, to start his own coffee farm.
CCS is lucky to have Luis’s and other Honduran lots available in Hamburg. So are you. We kindly remind our roasters who have ordered their Santa Barbara gems to release them soon -- to be enjoyed fresh!
Robert W.