Lourdes Ramirez's Journey in Coffee this Past Year.

A little over a year ago, at the end of February 2019, I was invited by the Mesa del Café de El Paraíso and Progresa to share my experiences in the promotion of specialty coffees in international markets with producers that were gathered at IHCAFE for the 2nd Specialty Coffee Competition of El Paraíso, Honduras. 

To those that may not be so familiar, El Paraíso is one of the coffee producing regions of Honduras, one that has been a late comer to the specialty coffee niche market. Through a series of articulated strategies from both the public and private sector, it is slowly making a name for itself in specialty markets.  The 2017 COE winner was from Las Delicias, El Paraíso, with the Parainema variety. Different projects are working in technical assistance with coffee producers, there is a quality control lab, coffee oriented university education programs, among other strategies that are begin to reap fruits. 

During last year's competition, more than 400 samples were submitted to the Quality Control Lab in El Paraíso. The team of cuppers had the huge task of selecting the best 30 samples, and it was a very motivating experience to share with the winning producers, to listen to the buyers describe their satisfaction with the coffees they were buying and one could sense an overall positive outlook for the potential of El Paraíso to produce exceptional coffees. 

As I was leaving the event, I met Lourdes Ramírez, a woman producer from Las Delicias- Remember, that village where the 2017 COE winner came from ?- and she helped me better understand the larger picture of the transcendence of that event.

Lourdes said she had felt inspired by the stories I had shared about other markets, about trends and small actions that could be taken to make sure to convey the process and quality with which they are producing their coffee. But I could sense a hint of disappointment in her eyes. 

"What about your coffee?", I asked.  To which she replied that her sample had not made it to the final 30 coffees that were evaluated for the awards and for the option to be sold to the buyers present. 

She explained to me that it was frustrating to know had diligent she had been in applying the recommendations from the field expert, taking the extra care during the harvest, being extremely careful about the drying process... And she felt quite discouraged to see that after all that effort, her coffee was now piled up in sacks in the storage area she had set up in her house.  But she was determined to try to sell well her coffee. 

The truth is I could completely relate to her, because this is the same struggle and challenge faced by many producers in Latin America and elsewhere. 

I didn't want to leave her without trying to share something that could be useful in the future. "Take lots of photos, and start writing down your process and your story.", I said to her as we parted ways. I also offered to call one of the export companies that I knew worked with specialty producers to let them know about her coffee. 

We remained in touch, connected via Whatsapp and Facebook, she shared  photos with me, and then as the months of the year went by we lost track of each other. The export company I called,  was being flooded with offers of coffee, the prices were very low... they could´t promise anything but they would cup the coffees. 

Jump up to 2020. About two weeks ago, I logged into Facebook and oh what a big surprise... In my screen, an update from Lourdes- her photo with a certificate declaring her the winner of the Specialty Coffee Competition of Las Delicias, with a 90 point Presidential Parainema.  Woo hoo! 

I was thrilled and immediately wrote her to congratulate her and to hear first hand what had happened. 

So here's a long story short: 

2018/2019 coffee- 

It turns out Raga Coffee, one of the buying companies present at the competition, cupped the sample she had submitted to the competition. Although it was not part of the top 30, it still was an excellent coffee. Raga Coffee was able to sell this coffee to The Drip in South Korea. Way to go Lourdes, Finca La Bendición, ( The Blessing) present with her coffee in one of the most demanding specialty markets in the world. 

Through the contact with Raga Coffee, she established a strategic alliance and has received technical assistance for example,  to  put in practice foliar feeding. She was also able to fertilize her coffee twice.

2019/2020 Coffee: 

She was able to improve the nutrition and fertilization, she paid a surplus to the harvest team she trained herself to make sure they harvested only the perfect cherries. 

She maintained a careful log and protocol of all the processing phase, the fermentation and the drying  process. 

Lourdes continues to be a part of the Progresa Program, working with field technicians from Ihcafe and other organizations like World Vision and Technoserve

 

A few weeks ago they asked her to submit her samples for the specialty coffee competition in her town of Las Delicias.  She wasn't too optimistic, but she had carefully separated the coffee of the two lots in her Finca La Bendición, one was the El Pozo lot,  and the other is the El Zapote lot. 

Lourdes tells me that the day before the award ceremony, one of the field technicians of the project called her, reminding her that the ceremony was the next day and that she should make plans to go. Lourdes was in the middle of coffee processing, super busy, so she told him she was not going to go. 

"You really will want to be there ", were his words. "So ", she thought, "maybe this is something good."

She woke up early next day to make it to the event. Come the time of the announcement of the winners, when it came to third place, she heard her name: 

"Lourdes Ramirez - Lote el Zapote- Parainema - Washed - 88 points !"  

She had won third place! Then came the announcement of the second place winner, and then, came the announcement of the first place, the winner of the competition, and she heard her name again: 

"Lourdes Ramírez - El Pozo - Parainema Washed - 90 points!"

 A first place and a third place with the two lots of coffee she had so carefully processed this harvest. 

"I am so happy for you!", I said with a big smile . 

"Wait, but that's not all! " I could really feel the excitement in Lourdes' voice over the phone.  She told me one of her cousins had sold her a lot or small farm of Parainema coffee, that he was unable to take care of . She had sent  a sample of this new lot to be cupped and it also turned out promising. 

So definitely her work in maintaining the farm and processing selectively and carefully is starting to pay off. 

She will be competing with her coffees and those of fellow producers in the region, at the end of March,  in the 3rd Specialty Coffee Competition of El Paraiso. 

She is to me an example of passion, of diligent work, of insistence. She has done her homework and she has been able to make alliances to get to market. Now through her work, she is also maximizing the great international promotional platform that coffee competitions can be.  I am super proud of Lourdes and her work, she inspires me to keep working for my own dreams. I can't wait to see how the regional competition will turn out, and what place in the world will have the opportunity to enjoy the effervescent, jasmine notes of her Parainema  microlot.