It's our Birthday, Sweet 16!
16 years ago this week, June 29, 2004, San Lazaro Coffee was born. Our founder, Jarrod Brown, was a very young missionary that for some reason had this crazy idea that gainful employment, specifically for women, would do more to transform a life, now and for eternity, than giving things away.
There are so many great memories driving into the remote jungle village of Las Pitas when the road was hardly a road. Confession, our coffee has come a long ways since our humble beginnings. Honestly, it tasted really really bad back then. We had no idea what we were doing but very nice friends and supporters bought the coffee nonetheless.
And just a while back one of those great friends, gifted me back one of her purchases from way back then! (Evidence that the word was out on the quality back then since she still hadn't used the coffee.). Today it's far more than a group of 20 women roasting poor quality coffee over a fire in a metal drum.
Today, San Lazaro Coffee is 20 women led by their committed leader, our farm manager,Nohelia Hernandez, taking care of a 400 acre piece of land in the La Botija Mountains.
The quality nowadays is exceptional and we're blessed to have great retail partners like YOU!!
As well as our roasting and distribution partners including:
Rob Webb founder of Just Love Coffee Roasters
Ryan O'Rourke, founder of Ironclad Coffee Roasters
Jason Pearl founder of Roasted Pearl Coffee
Matt Holley from Mugs Coffeehouse
Scarlett Rea Lyons founder of Lyon's Coffee Roasters
KeHE Food Distributors and the KeHE Cares Foundation
Carson Parodi from Mill47 Coffee,
Erin McAtee founder of E&B Coffee Roasters
Roberto Barr founder of OpDeployed
Together we are partnering to cultivate dignity and purpose now and for eternity on a remote mountain top, through a coffee farm!
1 Response
Leave a comment
Also in San Lázaro Coffee Blog
Building a Better Future, One Farm at a Time
For years, small coffee farmers in the La Botija Mountains of southern Honduras have faced the same problem. They could grow good coffee and work hard to care for their land, but when harvest came, they had very few options for selling it. The farms are small and scattered throughout the mountains, the roads are difficult, and many buyers simply didn’t find it worthwhile to make the trip.
Beyond the Harvest
While our farm provides year-round employment for our permanent team, harvest season creates a need for additional hands. During those busy months, women and men from neighboring communities join us to help bring in the crop. It's one of the ways our farm creates opportunity that extends well beyond our own workforce.
Unity Forged In Fire
On the night of April 30, flames appeared on the mountain that San Lazaro Coffee calls home. What began as an intentional act of arson quickly became a threat in the peak of Honduras’ dry season. After nearly five months without measurable rain, the mountain was a tinderbox, and the fire spread quickly through the steep terrain surrounding our coffee farm.
Mary Paul
July 25, 2020
I enjoyed reading your stories today. I brought a pound of your coffee and I’m eager to try it. Dios te bendiga! Thank you from Redding, California, USA