We spent the first weeks of 2022 visiting with partner cooperatives, engaging in a negotiation process unlike one to be found in the standard coffee industry. In these meetings to finalize prices for our 2022 contracts, space was given to farmers to detail the obstacles they faced in 2021 and transparently explain which they overcame and those that require additional persistence for the year ahead.

Silvestre, a producer from San Miguel Escobar explains what this time of year feels like for him: “I feel very grateful when we meet as a group to talk about coffee sales or projections for next year. They are very gratifying moments.” Silvestre, who has been cultivating coffee for 25 years has first-hand experienced the advancement that this industry has brought his family.

Mercedes comes from a long line of coffee farmers from the community of San Miguel Escobar who has been teaching tourists about his work as a coffee producer for more than 12 years. As he reminisces about his experiences with visitors he says, “tourists come to know how our culture is here in Guatemala,” but “I want tourists to know about everything I do--my work, how it’s done, how it helps generate an income.”

On the outskirts of Antigua and tucked into the foothills of Volcano Agua, is the town of San Miguel Escobar, a coffee-growing town rich in Catholic tradition and cultural pride, which comes alive every September as the community comes together to celebrate the annual “feria.” Every September 29th, the town honors its namesake, the heavenly host of angels and one of only three angels referred to by name in the New and Old Testament.