Honduras – Reinaldo Mena

He would hit me if I didn’t want to work on the land when I was a boy still. But he was also fair and he taught me most of what I know nowadays. I didn’t go to school much, I didn’t like it, and only finished third grade. Once I was fifteen, I started working the land for myself.

One thing my father didn’t teach me was how to prepare a micro-lot. In fact, he never had the joy of discovering what that even means. I, myself, learnt it only recently, when I joined Cafesmo. My first attempt received an 84 SCA score and my second attempt an 85. I’m thrilled as I am discovering an entirely new play field, with almost limitless opportunities to diversify, experiment, and improve.

Coffee means happiness to me, it’s a passion. When I look over my finca at the end of the day, just when the sun wants to settle behind the mountain tops far away, the glow of the rays are so precious that they make me want to stay there forever. Now even more so, as I am starting to explore this recently found universe of premiums and specialties.

What’s also wonderful about my work is that I have no boss, nobody who can tell me what to do. I organize each day as I see fit and I decide about my own priorities. For whatever goes wrong, I only have myself to blame, but each success I achieve, I achieve with my own efforts.

My children are still smallish, they don’t work on the farm. I want to offer them the freedom of choice: whether they want to pursue a higher education, or prefer to work the land, like myself. Of course I secretly hope that they will share my passion for cultivating coffee, but I am very aware of the growing challenges imposed upon us by climate change and the ruthless crackdown in prices by the international markets.

So, we shall see where my children end up when they are grown-ups. I, for one, will continue to live my life on and around my finca for I love it more than any other professional career that I can imagine.

5,5 hectares that are located at 1,150 to 1,220 meters. The varieties that I grow are Parainema, Paca, Catuaí, Lempira, and Catimoro.

Shade is abundant and is provided by guamo and pepeto, although I mark the borders of my land with cypress and galileo (a small tree with dense leaf growth).