Delia Romero, Finca El Pinal

My grandfather worked with bees, collecting and selling honey to make a living. It's something we should perhaps start doing again; it combines well with coffee farming, and bees are a tremendous help in the pollination process.

My husband and I make a great team. Together we own 5 hectares of land, and we each have our own preferences and strengths, so we complement each other very well. Our children also help us, especially during harvest season, when there's too much work for my husband and me to do alone.

Although we need the farm to live on, and although I work sixty hours a week, I see it primarily as a hobby. Sometimes it's physically exhausting, but it's spiritually uplifting. I rarely feel stressed, I enjoy nature, the birds singing around me, and above all, I like being my own boss and planning my days as I see fit.

It's also fantastic to be able to work as a team with my husband and often with our children as well. It keeps us close as a family, also because we're interdependent and share our success.

We haven't prepared many microlots yet, but we're very interested in focusing more on that specific aspect of the coffee industry. It's simply amazing to know that my coffee is now being sold in China. A few years ago, I wouldn't have even remotely believed it was possible.

Now, I'm increasingly adept at selecting only the finest beans for our micro-lots, and at fine-tuning the drying and processing to ensure the highest quality and consistent batches. We cultivate three varieties: Lempira, Paca, and Parainema, all excellent for specialty coffees.