With a new generation taking over responsibility for the family business it usually brings the challenge of improving the traditional business and requires efforts and investments to sustain in a different market. When Jan-Carlo and his wife Sofia Handtke finished studying, they decided to dedicate their life to the coffee production by inheriting the coffee farms. Soon they started to replant and reorganize the six farms which belong to the Handtke family for 5 generations. Since then they have planted over 1.3 million coffee plants which will
last for future generations enabling them to make a living from
the coffee production. There is more to do to produce high quality coffee and they invested in the facilities for the post-harvest production by installing a brand new ecofriendly mill in 2015 which uses less water, essential in an area were the rain season is limited and so are the water resources. All the pulp and waste that comes out of the milling process is used as fertilizer to give back nutrients to the farm that surrounds the mill, no waste goes unused at their operation On the seven farms which belong to Mapache, there are 150 people employed all year round which already makes them one of the biggest producers in the region. However during harvest season there are about 700 people working on the farms. For Sofia and Jan-Carlo the coffee production is much more than being producers. They are aware of the necessity to build a community in a global perspective and have taken also big efforts to connect with coffee roasters and traders around the world. This guarantees them to sustain in the volatile coffee market and provides jobs and perspectives for future generations in the rural area.