February 2010 Coffee News

-A Quick Trip to Honduras
-20 Years of Changes
-Fudge Brownie for Valentine's Day

A Quick Trip to Honduras
Many of you will be surprised to learn that we just got back from a quick trip to Honduras. With the kids in the safe keeping of Cathy's parents, the two of us spent 10 days reviewing this year's coffee harvest, talking with family members about how things have been going here and marking the 20th anniversary of the day we met (SuperBowl Sunday 1990).

It was 20 years ago that we met in the now infamous Palm Beach County in southeast Florida. (In case you haven't heard the story, Cathy, who was working in Florida with a volunteer program, was out mowing her lawn when her mower stopped working. Guillermo, who had just moved in next door with his aunt, noticed and jumped over the fence to help. As they say -- the rest is history.) We decided to mark the occasion with our first trip to the Bay Islands in Honduras. After enduring over an hour of seasickness on the ferry between La Ceiba and the island of Roatan, we arrived at the beautiful white beaches of West Bay. We spent 2 days at the funky Foster's Resort (one of the originals on this now increasingly crowded tourist destination) soaking up sunshine and enjoying the clear ocean waters with Guillermo's brother Sabel and his three lovely daughters.

After using the seasickness bags again on our return trip to the mainland, we spent 2 days in the city of Comayagua with Guillermo's sisters. We held a family coffee business meeting to review the financial results of the previous year (we'll share more details with you next month - but the short story is that in spite of a sour economy, we saw nice increases in sales and customers), placed orders for coffee from the harvest underway right now, and talked about plans for the future. We spent only 2 days up on the coffee farm during which it rained a fair amount, but we still managed to hike around to all our favorite places. Then, 2 more quick days in the city -- before dropping over 80 degrees in temperature the day we traveled back to Minnesota!

20 Years of Changes
While marking this anniversary, we spent time reflecting on all the changes we've seen in the past 20 years. When Guillermo first came to the US in 1989 and then for many years afterward, no one in his family had a telephone and he spent months without talking to anyone. Now everyone has a cell phone and most have internet connection in their homes. 20 years ago, the family crowded into one small wooden house on the farm and a one room apartment in the city. Now all of Guillermo's siblings have their own homes and his parents enjoy a larger home their kids helped them build on the farm. We've watched Guillermo's nieces and nephews grow from cute little kids to adults now with their own cute children. We've helped baptize new babies who are now celebrating their graduation from high school.

Looking back we realize that change takes time, but things have definitely improved. No one in the family had heard of sustainable farming 20 years ago, but now sustainability and fair trade are common concepts that shape our decisions. Eco-tourism was also unheard of, and then for years just a dream that filled our conversations. Now there are multiple cabins for rent up on the farm, a newly finished visitor center (that still sits empty unfortunately) and tourists from all over the world find their way up the mountain to hike the trails through the rain forest and see a working coffee farm first hand. We wonder how things will change in the next 20 years?

Fudge Brownie for Valentine's Day
In celebration of Valentine's day, we are offering Fudge Brownie flavored coffee in whole bean and ground for $6.00 per 8 oz bag. Get your order in as soon as possible as we've only ordered a limited amount and when it's gone, it's gone.

That's all the coffee news for now. Next month: 2009 Financial Report, Coffee Harvest Challenges, and the New Honduran President.