Jesus Hernandez is a first-generation coffee producer in the town of Petatan in Huehuetenango region. During the harvest Jesus makes sure that only the ripest cherries are picked which means in total of three or four picking passes on the farm. The cherries are transported with horses, depulped the same day of the picking and fermented in plastic tubs in water for 24 hours. After the fermentation the beans are washed and eventually dried on a patio in the sun for four days. The name of Jesus’s farm, Tzintelaj, is a local indingenous language Popti and is a name for a local plant which was used in traditional healing for pregnant women. “We started about 15 years ago with coffee after struggling with various crops on our land. None of those crops gave us any good results. We managed to try to produce coffee and then plant it on the rest of the land. “We started farming about 15 years ago. First, we struggled with various crops on our land and none gave us good results. After some time, we managed to plant a bit of coffee and eventually we decided to keep on working and planting the rest of the land with coffee”, explains Jesus.

W H A T  D O E S  T H E  F U T U R E  H O L D ?

In the future Jesus is interested in strengthening his agronomic practises and experiences. He also wants to improve his processing methods.

THOUGHTS FROM THE PRODUCER

“What drives us is that we know that our entire family depends on coffee and our children are being supported by the income from this crop. This is why we want to improve the quality of our coffee”, Jesus tells.