Tamper Tantrum - Our family farm and why Coffee Farmers ROCK!
We were invited by Colin Harmon and the Tamper Tantrum team to speak at Cup North, the first coffee conference in Manchester, England, bringing a lot of the UK coffee industry together.
Our topic: “Why Coffee Farmers Rock”
We wanted to share with the audience the qualities that we admire about coffee farmers we have had the opportunity to work with.
The difference between average and excellence lies in the attention to detail, the passion and the hard work farmers bring to the table. It’s hard to define coffee farmers in terms of a specific demographic as they cover a large spectrum and can be exclusive and limiting. When it comes to farming quality coffee, what defines these women and men, are traits that transcend these demographics. It was a real honour to share the inspirational traits of our farmers character.
VISION
We told about Don Manuel Matheau’s (my great great great grandfather) vision and bravery, of how he started growing coffee against all odds in Antigua, Guatemala. As an industry we should rise up to this legacy and collaborate together to push the Specialty Coffee industry further. We currently make up 1% of the entire coffee industry. Let’s go for the 2% - together with the same bravery and vision of Don Manuel.
PERSISTANCE & COURAGE
We talked about Don Heleodoro’s journey into coffee farming. He started walking a few days to buy cherry at a farm in Huehuetenango, and waking a few more days back on foot with a bag full of freshly pick cherries to sell them to a mill. He was a humble man with a dedication to good work habits. He soon realised that coffee farming could be a bit of a business, so he saved and saved until he bought his first farm, La Esperanza. His persistence and courage led to a family business of now 7 son’s growing Cup of Excellence coffee.
EXCELLENCE
Following her father’s death at the age of 25, Doña Maruca, embraced responsibility and worked her farms. Over the years she multiplied her production by a multiple of 5 with fearlessness and unwavering work ethic. She was on top of her game as the largest single producer of coffee in El Salvador at the height of coffee in 1970s (pre land reform/Cold War). As the leading Lady around the country in a sea of men, she was kind of the Beyonce of coffee farming-a real legend. She should inspire all women to fearlessly break gender stereo types.
