Finca Vista Hermosa, Huehuetenango, Guatemala

Guatemala - Largest Supplier of Specialty Coffee to the United States

The highlands of Guatemala produce several of the world's finest and most distinctive coffees. Anacafe, the Guatemalan National Coffee Association, has designated eight distinct coffee-growing regions based on geography, climate, coffee characteristics and cup profiles. Coffee farms within these designated areas that produce strictly hard bean coffee (SHB), the highest quality, are allowed to carry the regional designation. Guatemala coffees from regions that are more exposed to wet ocean weather than the mountain-protected Antigua basin, tend to display slightly softer, often less powerful, but equally complexly nuanced profiles. Two excellent examples of this softer Guatemalan coffee include Rainforest Cobán and Highland Huehue.

The Highland Huehuetenango region crosses the Cordillera de Los Cuchumatanes (central mountain range) with altitudes as high as 11,800 feet (3,600 meters). This important coffee growing region is located in northwestern Guatemala, on the border with Mexico, and coffee is planted on Caribbean-facing mountain slopes at altitudes of 5,000-6,500 feet (1,500-2,000 meters). Annual rainfall is around 70 inches (1,800 mm) with a relative humidity of 70-80%. Dry and hot winds from the Tehuantepec plain in Mexico protect the region from frost and create its unique microclimate. The average temperature is 73°F (23°C). The subtropical and humid climate contributes to the coffee beans' beautiful appearance and uniform maturation. The flowering is homogeneous which results in a winey, high-quality cup. In Huehue, Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai coffee beans are grown. Harvesting takes place from January to April.

Three Generations of Coffee Artisans

Finca Vista Hermosa, Beautiful View, is a legacy of three generations of coffee lovers who have poured their hearts into the rich land of Huehuetenango. The United States purchases more specialty coffee from Guatemala than from any other country in the world. Because it is situated in the highlands, Huehuetenango coffees are among the more coveted coffees of altitude from Guatemala. Our family plantation is located in Agua Dulce, Huehuetenango in northwest Guatemala. Finca Vista Hermosa is ecologically sound and healthy, a model for many shade grown and organic plantations.

Felipe Martinez, who was a pastor in the highlands of Huehuetenango, purchased the initial parcel of Finca Vista Hermosa in 1957. My grandmother Marta Martinez was very resourceful and she started sewing pants for a friend who was a contract employee of a textile company. She would get up very early, and eventually as she made more money than my grandfather did as a pastor, my grandfather would help as early as 4:00 am for a few hours daily. It was out of this sacrifice they could make a down payment on the original lot which was located in the community of Michicoy, and to this day that lot carries the official land title of "Michicoy". The second parcel was purchased later in Agua Dulce and this is what is now the center of operations for Finca Vista Hermosa, and Michicoy is an Annex down the road.

When the property was purchased over 50 years ago, it was not accessible even by a dirt road with a four-wheel drive. In fact, it was a full day away from the city of Huehuetenango, including a bus ride to where the road ended and a half-day hike. Felipe and Marta Martinez slept on the dirt floor unless it was time for coffee to be taken down the mountain. When the time came, Felipe hired help to hike the coffee bags to the closest road and was obligated to sleep there each night until someone came by with a vehicle to take him and the coffee to town. It was not easy for them to raise a family with seven kids on $25 per month. Delmi, the oldest sister, vividly remembers carrying tables and chairs and dishes on their head as they hiked for hours to get to their property in their Sunday shoes — their only shoes.

Forward to today where the third generation of the Martinez family, headed by Edwin (Eddie) and his wife Nina, are carrying on the rich tradition of sacrifice and quality work. Finca Vista Hermosa has received multiple awards for coffee quality in the past decade, including the Exceptional Cup award in Guatemala several times, and an eighth place finish in the prestigious Cup of Excellence® in 2007. Finca Vista Hermosa coffee has also been chosen by Anacafe as the "best of the best" representative of the perfect flavor profile of the Huehuetenango region three years in a row.

The Finca Vista Hermosa property encompasses 90 acres (36 hectares) of land and is located near the municipality of Agua Dulce, city of San Pedro Necta, department of Huehuetenango. Approximately 86 acres (35 hectares) are planted with Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuaí cultivars at elevations ranging from 4,200 feet (1,280 meters) to 6,400 feet (1,950 meters).

Finca Vista Hermosa Facts

Annual Production:	Approximately 700 bags (varies from year to year)
Cultivars:	Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuaí
Property Size:	90 acres (36 hectares)
Elevation:	4,200-6,400 feet (1,280-1,950 meters)
Annual Precipitation:	67 inches (1,700 mm)
Climate:	average temp: 72°F (22°C), 60% humidity
Soil Type:	Clay loam
Shade Trees:	Inga, Gravilea, Native Pine, Cypress, Fruit Trees
Water Source:	Natural water sources from the farm
Harvesting:	Handpicked from January through May
Processing:	Depulped with water, naturally demucilaged in concrete tanks
Washing:	Naturally washed in concrete channels
Drying:	Naturally sundried on patios

Management of the Finca

Being a full time pastor, Felipe found someone to visit the parcel of land part time and keep an eye on it and perform small tasks when Felipe was unable. This continued until eventually there was someone full time caring for the land. In the last 50 years, there have been 3 different families that have managed. The most recent family to manage is the Garcia Martin family. Lorenzo (Lencho) Garcia Martin came to visit to help temporarily and he never left. After 12 years he brought Carlos, one of his brothers, under his wing so he could transition back to his hometown of San Juan to be mayor for a 4-year term.

The Garcia Martin family brought two generations of experience working in coffee, and being native to the land, they are intimately aware of how to best manage all the resources in order to yield maximum quality in a sustainable manner and preserve the land for future generations. Many look to them for advice on issues of preventing land erosion, management and conservation of water, sustainable methods of planting and caring for coffee, and even interpersonal conflict resolution.

Lencho’s brother Carlos, together with Carlos' son Edwin, passed away in February of 2008 and Finca Vista Hermosa has since been managed by Carlos' oldest son Diego. Diego, his wife and young baby are managing about 100 people this harvesting season with the help of Juan, another of Lencho's brothers. While Lencho has over a decade of experience managing Finca Vista Hermosa and as mayor of a town of over 10,000 people, he now reports to his nephew who is not yet 30 years old. Every man at Finca Vista Hermosa is usually accompanied by his wife if he is married and their kids, all of whom will usually stay at their home on the plantation.

Planting, Harvesting and Processing

The coffee trees are planted using a triangle system with rows that are offset from each other so that as the sun pans across the sky, all the trees are evenly exposed. The spacing is important for optimum growth and efficient use of land. We don't want too much space in between and we don't want to push for a yield or density higher than what the land can naturally produce.

We produce primarily shade grown coffee with varying degrees of shade, i.e. we have as much shade as possible without completely stalling the growth cycle. Being high elevation and on steep terrain (natural shade that one range has on another) provide for slower development of the bean, which yields a more complex character. It is our job to ensure this character is a pleasant one by being meticulous in the care and harvest of the fruit.

We tend a herd of sheep on site, which is extremely rare for the region. The sheep provide manure that we mix with composted pulp from the previous year as well as soil. This is applied various times through out the year. We also make a diluted tea out of the manure that we spot spray when and where needed.

The harvest season can start as early as mid December up to end of January and it lasts two to four months. There is only ONE harvest cycle per year. Each tree produces enough coffee to yield the equivalent of one pound of roasted coffee. We pick only the ripe red cherries and we try to pick them ALL at their peak. Thus we do many passes on every tree in just one harvest season. We de-pulp EVERYTHING we pick the same day. This is an important and distinctive quality control component that has a great impact in both cup quality and consistency. Coffee quality can never be improved after harvest and processing, only maintained.

Finca Vista Hermosa takes exceptional care in the cultivation and processing of our coffee to ensure the highest quality beans make it to market. Diego, the farm manager, enforces a quality focused mindset that ensures that only the ripest coffee cherries are picked by hand without damaging the trees or the partially ripe cherries. Each lot goes through multiple hand pickings as the harvest season progresses so that only the reddest, ripest cherries are harvested.

The coffee cherries are examined at the receiving station before going into the separation tank. In these tanks, under and over ripe cherries float above the perfectly ripe cherries that sink to the bottom of the tanks. Those ripe cherries are then sorted out to the depulper, the only piece of the processing that uses an electrical engine. All other parts of the harvesting process are painstakingly done by hand under the watchful eyes of the master coffee managers.

The processing involves removing the pulp and then at time of fermentation removing the mucilage or fruit from the bean. Fermentation is achieved in concrete tanks over a period of 24-40 hours (depending on the weather), when the fruit that is between skin and seed is fermented off. We make sure fruit is fermented off thoroughly, but not too much, otherwise the fruit is over fermented which is a major defect and clearly unpleasant to any coffee drinker. This mucilage is like a gelatenous membrane that is fairly transparent. Each daily harvest lot is fermented separately to ensure quality and traceability.

Afterwards, the clean parchment coffee is immediately and continuously washed in concrete channels and sorted by density, with the highest density and highest quality coffees remaining at the top of the washing ladder. A final rinse with spring water is performed. After the careful washing and sorting process, the coffee is laid out on the drying patios where it is turned and dried. The coffee is marked by microlot and day harvest the entire way through the processing. Once dried, the coffee is transported to a mill where the parchment is removed, which leaves a small hard green bean for export.

We package our green beans in traditional jute packaging and are also experimenting with vacuum packing. We were the first to vacuum-pack coffee for export and we assisted in research to enable the Cup of Excellence® auction to vacuum-pack their top lots sold through a live global internet auction.

This level of quality control and hands-on care results in an amazingly clean and consistent coffee with exceptional flavor characteristics. It is not easy, requiring sacrifice and commitment that costs far more in terms of money and time than most coffee farms are willing to dedicate. But the results speak for themselves in the awards our coffees have received and the flavor in the cup of each Fince Vista Hermosa microlot.

Marketing and Sales

We have participated in the Exceptional Cup in 2004 and Cup of Excellence® in 2007, but most marketing has been via sending samples and letting the coffee speak for itself. As a result, those who fall in love with it and hear the story want to visit and we work with roasters around the world to make this happen.

We sold to local brokers for many years where our coffee mostly ended up at Starbucks and today we sell direct to roasters on every continent in the world except Antartica. But we have had some roasted product go there as well. One thing we are proud of is that when someone googles our name they can usually find our coffee through a roaster near them, thanks to Google that is powered by Finca Vista Hermosa coffee roasted by Barefoot Coffee Roasters in the San Francisco Bay area in California.

We sell to The Coffee Collective in Denmark, which is composed of four young coffee professionals who hold titles of World Barista Champion and World Cup Tasting Champion. They are also recognized among the most talented roasters in the western hemisphere and they are no doubt a creative group committed to coffee education and the experience of coffee.

We have not sought to differentiate our coffee from other Central American or Guatemalan coffees, but while top roasters not only seek a good coffee, they want the relationship and opportunity to buy direct and have maximum information. So the natural result is finding the best match, which is as simple as connecting with those who are looking for us.

We compiled a list of all North American roasters in 2001 with the assistance of an international business student at Western Washington University. We initiated the marketing program with a brief introductory email to these roasters, then contacted a few hundred of them by telephone, and followed up with a post card. As a result, we sold the first import to a spread of about 40 roasters.

We could not be picky at first, but over time with limited growth in production and some attrition among our customer accounts, we continuously improve how good a match we are for our average customer. It seems there is no perfect customer and it always takes work on both sides. The most efficient relationships tend to be the most rewarding even if much effort goes into them. Efficient doesn't mean the customers are "low maintenance" but rather that they want what we offer. If they want either more or less, then there is probably a better match out there somewhere and it is only a matter of time before that match is made. So if we have the foresight and can afford it we will sometimes encourage an existing customer to purchase their Guatemalan coffee from someone else who can offer them something that is a better overall match. This is not just about any one thing such as price, quality, story, relationship, information, certifications etc. It is all encompassing.

Barefoot Coffee Roasters travels to visit Finca Vista Hermosa on a regular basis and two generations of Martinez family have come to visit this roaster as well. Barefoot buys the coffee directly from Finca Vista Hermosa and pays a premium priced based on quality. In 2008 Barefoot is again paying a premium to Finca Vista Hermosa to help pay for medical supplies for the local doctors that provide the medical and dental care. We receive a premium price from Barefoot that is almost double the Fair Trade floor price, and since we export and they import the coffee the entire price goes directly to the coffee farm with no exporters receiving commissions.

In 2007, Barefoot Coffee Roasters spent 10 days with the Martinez family working to separate the microlots all the way to market to improve quality. Barefoot Coffee was the first roaster to separate the lots of Finca Vista Hermosa and offer them as distinct coffees from the same farm. Having originally featured five microlots, Barefoot chose three microlots from their blind cupping in 2008: The Vista Hermosa Reserve, the Edlyna microlot and the Peabery reserve. This five-year partnership has been very benefical for both farm and roaster.

Finca Vista Hermosa has earned several accolades in the past few years. Its coffee was chosen by ANACAFE for the third consecutive year as the "best of the best" representative Huehuetenango. It placed eighth in the Cup of Excellence® in 2007 (Finca Vista Hermosa entered El Eden in 2008 and it narrowly missed the cut into the final 44 coffees). And last but not least, in 2008, Finca Vista Hermosa was selected as one of the coffees used in the 5th Annual World Cup Tasters Championship, held in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Finca Vista Hermosa 2007 COE Facts

Place:	8th place among 19 coffees
Score:	87.53 points
Lot size:	16 bags
Price:	US$8.05 per pound green beans
Auction Proceeds:	US$19,593

Environment and Community

Agua Dulce and Michicoy are both in the township of San Pedro Necta in the department of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. The climate is stable year round and has a defined wet and dry season. The dry season is important for building character in the coffee and articulating a clear beginning and end to harvest. Coffee is very labor intensive and is cared for by the local community and some who travel in for seasonal work. Most who are native to Huehue speak Spanish as a second language and Mam the local Mayan dialect as a first language. Communities are usually made up of family groups that have 8-12 children on average. This means by the time you have grandkids, your family reunion can be a few thousand people!

In 2008 a new warehouse was built for parchment coffee storage. In 2009 we will continue phase 2 of a coffee drying patio that will be the largest one constructed at FVH to date and has been in the works for 8 years now. We hope to complete this by 2010.

Finca Vista Hermosa is a nearly self sufficient farm operating in a highly sustainable manner and providing a benefit to the local environment and economy. Above and below the farm are virgin rain forest belts that are dense jungle and filled with an abundance of plants and animals. All coffee is planted under native species shade trees which not only provide ideal growing conditions, stop erosion and provide valuable nutrients to the soil but also provide fire wood and building materials for the local families that rely on Vista Hermosa for their livelihood.

Although not certified organic, Finca Vista Hermosa pursues environmentally sustainable policies: they raise their own sheep to provide both natural fertilizer and food; they compost and recycle all of their coffee and water waste from processing and harvesting; they even raise chickens to provide pest control and a natural nitrite fertilizer – no chemical pesticides are used on the farm. The resulting effect is a much healthier ecosystem with vibrant flora and fauna.

Finca management is committed to social responsibility and supports the local community. The most important asset of Finca Vista Hermosa is the people. The Martinez family has always taken great strides to take good care of their people both in the farm and the surrounding community. FVH has had a Mayan farm manager for the last thirty years. This is remarkable in a country where the indigenous peoples are treated with disdain and sometimes hatred. The Martinez family has invested countless amounts time and money into the surrounding community. They have built schools, water systems and other community benefits over the last thirty years. In 2007 Barefoot Coffee and a few other roasters partnered to help build a medical clinic and sleeping quarters on the farm. This provided a much needed space for local doctors and dentists to provide medical checkups, services and medical care with privacy and cleanliness. FVH is an integral part of the local community at large and has led many advancements in improving the quality of life of the people of Agua Dulce. In 2008 Barefoot is contributing to a fund to help pay for medical supplies to improve medical care in the medical facility.

More information about the Cup of Excellence® at www.cupofexcellence.org