We first met Guillermo Montenegro's family in 2018, during another visit we paid to our partner in Nicaragua, Caravela. As we try to find partners with whom we could work long-term, and at the same time ensure they produce enough coffee every year, Caravela introduced us to Guillermo.

Guillermo lives with his wife Rosa and children on his finca (farm) near the town of Dipilto in the very north of Nicaragua. From the hills above the farm, it is literally a stone's throw away to Honduras. The farm of the Montenegro family and its story show great perseverance and strength. Over the last 20 years, they almost lost the farm three times. There was little left after the land was swept by the hurricane, next, the family almost lost it due to a financial crisis, and when they overcame even this hardship, they had to cut down and replant all the coffee trees because of ‘roy’ (coffee rust).

Of the total area of 56 hectares owned by the family, 28 are dedicated to coffee. The rest of the area is planted with vegetables, mainly tomatoes, from which, outside the coffee season, the family produces ketchup, and woody plants such as cypress and various native tree species typical of this landscape. On the 28 hectares, at an altitude of 1315 - 1700 meters, Guillermo grows mainly the pacamara, maragogype, maracaturra and bourbon coffee varieties.

The coffee is harvested from January to April and processed by the washed method directly on the farm with the help of small peelers powered by a diesel engine. After peeling, the coffee beans are soaked in fermentation tanks for 24 – 40 hours. After fermentation and washing, the coffee is loaded onto a truck and transported to the La Estrella central drying station, operated by Caravela. This will ensure a controlled and high-quality process that is important for the green coffee shelf life as a comprehensive program focused on this part of coffee processing has been implemented at the station.

The coffees from the El Poste farm are getting better and better every year thanks to their inclusion in the PECA program run by our partner Caravela. Thanks to this, alongside other things, since 2011, their coffees have advanced to the final rounds of the Cup of Excellence competition.