Honduras with the Oliva Family

In June 2023 I headed to Honduras. The Oliva family have several coffee farms in the mountains of Honduras and they very kindly hosted me for 3 weeks to show me their farms and their processing facilities, and to help me to understand all of the ins and outs of the Honduras coffee business.

On my first day in Honduras I arrived at a small coffee farm in the mountains of Comayagua. The farm is owned by passionate Joel Oliva. After farming coffee in the highlands over a lifetime, Joel recently created this smaller farm as a garden of coffee Eden for his enjoyment.  He has planted a selection of his favourite coffee varietals including Obata, Parainema, Icatu and Lempira.

I was put straight to work, helping to move recently milled wood. The hard labour was a bit of a shock to the system, but I enjoyed it.  This was followed by a Honduran feast, including tortillas cooked on a wood fired clay stove. What a great start to the adventure.

Next we travelled went to Joel’s main farm.  This one was in the mountains of Marcala at 1400m. This farm was a beauty. The coffee was planted 20 years ago in the old style, beneath the forest canopy, and amongst a variety of fruits including wild tomatoes, mangoes, peaches, sweet beans and, of course, bananas. Grazing the fruits of the forest was a real treat.

Jose Oliva’s farm in the mountains of Marcala was a real highlight. This farm, at 1500-1700m, is packed with old growth Parainema. Over recent years the highest part of the farm has been cleared to plant Gesha. This is common throughout Honduras. Many farmers are now planting Gesha at the peaks of their plantations. I spent plenty of time getting my hands dirty on this farm. I really enjoyed the farm experience.

My 3 weeks was jam packed with visits to family homes, coffee farms, farmer co-ops, coffee bean processing facilities and coffee roasters.

I’m very fortunate to have been invited and hosted by the Oliva family and I give my thanks to all of them. It is great to have samples of their coffee here in Australia to share with my customers and to introduce to my colleagues. It would be wonderful to get larger batches in the near future so the next mission is to find out how to make that magic happen.