Javier Pineda, Bella Vista Farm

My parents had bought 0.7 hectares of land and worked day and night to support us. Thanks to the good prices at the time, they were gradually able to buy more land. Although I spent a lot of time there as a child and helped out as much as I could, my parents insisted that education was the top priority. While my siblings and I studied for an exam, my parents were usually working long shifts.

Finally, in 1994, I started on my own, with just under a hectare, where I planted only the Pacas variety. Unfortunately, prices plummeted afterward, and I decided to try my luck in the United States. Since I was able to earn a decent wage there, my two brothers joined me not long after, and our sister stayed behind, single-handedly managing all the family land. Fourteen years later, in 2008, I missed my homeland so much and still felt such a passion for coffee that I returned to my hometown of San Marcos in Ocotepeque and began working with my sister.

Meanwhile, Nery Espinoza, who is also a member of CAFESMO, had become my brother-in-law, and we began coordinating our coffee businesses together. Now, we each focus on a different aspect. My son, Javier, is studying at the Honduran Coffee Institute to become a certified coffee taster, so he and I are responsible for our specialty coffees. In 2018, when he was only 18, Javier brewed his first coffee, a Colombia variety with a profile of 87, which he sold to Carlos René Guerra, the Honduran national barista champion (16th in the world in Boston, 2019).

I'm sure Javier has a bright future ahead of him, with many opportunities to make people all over the world happy with our coffees. If he's able to prepare an 87 profile at 18, he'll surely be able to reach a 90 score sooner rather than later. And I'm very, very proud to work with my son and grateful to be a part of his success—and I hope I am a part of his.