Q'ejna

Francisco Perez

Small-scale producer

Francisco is a second-generation coffee farmer, and he began working to produce coffee with his father around 35 years ago. They sowed coffee, but in those years, they lacked the understanding of how to produce high-quality coffee because the needs of the market were much different in those days. Over the years, Francisco has sought to learn more about best practices and has incorporated them in order to produce coffee of high quality. Francisco and his family are in charge of processing their coffee at a small home wet mill, and they use a popular method in Huehuetenango—soaking the coffee for 12 hours after the initial fermentation and wash. This helps accentuate the clean flavors of the coffee and ensure the lot is at a uniform temperature before being set out to dry on the patio. Primavera continues to support ongoing quality improvements. Francisco says, “It’s hard for us to maintain the farm’s production because each year brings us new obstacles, like a local labor shortage, increased prices for agricultural inputs, and the changing climate. However, we are fighting to improve our quality each year, so we can earn a price that compensates for the high costs of production.” The name of the farm, Q’ejna, means “old house” in the local indigenous language Mam. In fact, many farms in the area bear similar names, referring to the old houses that once sheltered soldiers and still remain on the land today.