17 - El Gravileo - Honduras 2024

I am Lester Marquez, and my farm is named "El Gravileo," after a Silk Oak. I began my farm with just two trees of this variety, eventually expanding to include different types of crops. When I first became interested in the coffee world, I heard about the Parainema variety. To cultivate it, I started with a greenhouse located just two hours away on foot. However, due to the high altitude of 1800 MASL on my farm, I encountered difficulties with this variety, so I switched to growing Typica.            I managed to sell my coffee to RAGA COFFEE, which enabled me to reach international coffee buyers. Some of them even visited my farm from abroad. It was thanks to their encouragement that I finally decided to participate in COE. They consistently praised the quality of my coffee as COE-level, and their words proved to be true. Being the only winner from Lempira this year fills me with pride for the hard work I have put into my farm over the years.

I will continue to focus on improving the care, development, and production of coffee on my farm. My goal is to achieve an even higher standard in the coming years, and I have faith in the good work that has been done on the farm, as well as in the help of God, to make that dream possible.