Meet our Farmers

One of our core convictions at THRIVE Farmers is to provide a community where consumers and producers – FARMERS – have a real connection. Not just meaningless faces, but real stories. The best way to start that relationship is by sharing the lives of the people who make up THRIVE Farmers.

Below you will find just the beginning of that effort…we have been working to capture footage from dozens of farmers and in the future that effort will be expanded, but even just learning about the few represented here, we know you will get a glimpse into the impact THRIVE can make in the coffee industry. Join us in revolutionizing the coffee industry!

[Video Footage will be posted soon - keep checking back.]

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  Juan de Dios Santa Maria

  Juan de Dios Santa Maria has been farming coffee for 27 years.  Not being able to survive solely on coffee production on 26 hectares with his brother, Cesar, and son Luis Diego, Juan de Dios and family started the El Trapiche sugar cane and coffee tour in the Monteverde area.  In seeking to find a livelihood apart from just coffee, the Santa Maria’s discovered the real economic power of coffee further down the value chain.  They caught a glimpse and understood through their tourism business of the real benefit of connecting the farmer economically to the consumer.  As a result, the Santa Maria family joined Thrive Farmers as one of the pioneer farmers in the Monteverde Region.
  

  Juan de Dios Santa Maria

  Origin: Costa Rica

  Region: Monteverde

  Location: Cañitas

  Elevation: 1200 meters (3960 feet)

  
  

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  Raul Valdes

  Don Raul Valdes and his brother Don Isidro Valdes are institutions in the world of Guatemalan coffee.  Their farm is part of the patrimony of coffee history in Antigua, Guatemala.  The farm, San Rafael Urias, is situated in a micro valley between the volcanos Agua and Fuego.  The Valdes brothers are the third generation of coffee farmers on this land with Don Raul’s son, Raul Arturo Valdes continuing the tradition.  The estate was settled by the Spanish in 1739, and from that time forward it has been dedicated to agriculture with coffee entering the picture in the late 1800′s.  Like the land and the family that live on the land, the coffee is so very special, winning the Cup of Excellence many times.

  Regardless of the size of the farm or the prestige of the coffee, San Rafael Urias faces the same challenges as any coffee farmer in fighting an ever changing market.  This coffee is so precious, and it should command a much greater price and profit to these farmers, but as with all coffee farmers, the great majority of the profit lies in hands of others after it leaves the Valdez Brothers’ hands.   With Thrive Farmers, San Rafael Urias is seeking a real connection with the lover of coffee.  This connection will assure the preservation of a truly impressive jewel in the world of coffee, and will maintain this heritage for generations to come.

  The Valdes family are leaders in the world of Guatemalan coffee, and they have placed their focus and voice with Thrive Farmers to lead the community of all coffee farmers in Guatemala and demonstrate that there is a better way.
  

  Raul Valdes

  Origin: Guatemala

  Region: Antigua

  Location: San Miguel Dueñas

  Elevation: 1500 meters (5000 feet)

  
  

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  Franklin Garbanzo

  A visionary.  To say anything less would not do this man justice.  We all know unsung heroes in our various walks of life.  Franklin “Franco” Garbanzo is the unsung hero of a small community in the mountains of Tarrazu, Costa Rica.  Nestled on top of a little mountain surrounded by an immense valley carpeted with lush dark green coffee plants sits La Violeta, a small “beneficio” or coffee processing mill.  This mill was started by 14 farmers in the valley of La Violeta 10 years ago.  Franklin remembers the first night processing the coffee.  “We had to process at night in the cold, wet and mud because the new machine was using all of the electricity available to the village.”  From that day forward, these 14 farmers led by Franklin now produce and process some of the finest coffee in the Tarrazu region.  The risk taken and forward thinking of this small group of farmers trying to gain control of their coffee and not just sell the fruit is truly amazing.

  But something was missing, Franco was still worried that these 14 farmers were victims to the ups and downs of the coffee market, and they knew that the only way to find real value for their coffee was to connect with the retail market.  Until Thrive Farmers that was not possible, but today they are taking their innovation to a new level with Thrive Farmers.  Franco and the farmers of La Violeta are now the leaders of the movement of Thrive Farmers in Frailes de Desamparados, Tarrazu.  They are now able to take control of their coffee all the way to market.

  With a contagious smile and positive energy that drives his love of all things coffee, Franco’s knowledge of his craft is from the plant to the cup.  Better in his words to describe his passion for his coffee:  “When you’re brewing the coffee, oh the smell it wakes me and then I taste it, oh it’s like caramel, it’s fruity, it’s chocolatey, mamma mía, I need it during the day because it keeps me going, it’s like caramel, it’s chocolatey, by just brewing it, wow, what a coffee.”  (Huge smile included!)
  

  Franklin Garbanzo

  Origin: Costa Rica

  Region: Tarrazu

  Location: La Violeta

  Elevation: 1600 meters (5,280 feet)

  
  

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  Emilio Marín Piedra

  Piedra in Spanish means “rock.”  Emilio Marín Piedra lives up to his name as the the third generation “rock” of the first and leading family in Frailes de Desamparados, Tarrazu, Costa Rica to produce coffee organically and in harmony with nature. Emilio with his sons and daughter are teaching a fifth generation to love the land through the production of coffee. Sadly, Emilio and his family have worked in a “labor of love” for 35 years, but until Thrive Farmers, they never have touched the real value of their work.

  Their coffee is simply amazing on in all aspects:  the cup, the story, the love of the environment, the example of leadership in sustainability before the word sustainability was fashionable. Emilio’s dream is that the work of his grandfather and his father will pass through him to his children and grandchildren, and that his legacy will be in teaching that economic wellbeing is sustainably achieved through a continued love for the earth, and an appreciation that hard work ultimately has its rewards.
  

  Emilio Marín Piedra

  Origin: Costa Rica

  Region: Tarrazu

  Location: Frailes de Desamparados

  Elevation: 1500 meters (5000 feet)

  
  

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  Jorge Fonseca Mata

  Jorge Fonseca Mata is a coffee farmer, cattleman, and most important the patriarch of the Fonseca family.  Jorge is married to Damaris Gonzalez Mendez.  He has two children who are in their late 20’s,Jorge Enrique Fonseca Gonzalez and Marianela Fonseca Gonzalez who continue to support and help the Fonseca Family in the production of coffee. The name of the farm is Finca Fonseca.  Finca Fonseca is 153 hectares with 12 hectares in production of coffee. The farm is planted with various varieties of Arabica Coffee including Catura and Costa Rica 95.  The farm is the birthplace of the Abangares River. Finca Fonseca is the largest coffee plantation in San Rafael.  Jorge and his family have been in the business of production of coffee over 30 years.

  Even though the Fonseca family have the largest plantings of coffee in San Rafael, they were still unable to live solely on coffee.  With more coffee comes more cost with very little difference in profitability.  If anything, with more coffee comes more risk.  Jorge, as with all coffee farmers, plants his coffee and must care for it for three years before seeing the first coffee cherry.  Prior to Thrive, coffee presented a high level of risk to farmers of all sizes without the consummate reward.  Jorge was the first farmer in Thrive Farmers.  He has lead the way to making 8 times net profit in his best year with the cooperative.  Jorge has shown his fellows farmers that there is a better way.
  

  Jorge Fonseca Mata

  Origin: Costa Rica

  Region: Monteverde

  Location: San Rafael de Abangares

  Elevation: 3960 feet (1200 meters)

  
  

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  Jose Sixto Granados

  Jose Sixto Granados has been farming coffee for 30 years. Sixto and his son know without a doubt the difficulty of relying on coffee for a livelihood. Sixto was a faithful member of the local cooperative for many years, but he could never make ends meet with coffee. Before Thrive Farmers, Sixto and his son worked for other farmers for supplemental income leaving their coffee unattended in the search for other avenues of income. With Thrive Farmers, Sixto now sees that his 4 hectares of coffee has real value, and his hopes of his son remaining and working on the family farm sharing in the real value of coffee sold to the consumer is becoming a reality.
  

  Jose Sixto Granados

  Origin: Costa Rica

  Region: Monteverde

  Location: San Rafael de Abangares

  Elevation: 3960 feet (1200 meters)

  Varietal(s) Grown: Caturra

  
  

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  Maria Victoria Pinto Hernandez

  Maria Victoria Pinto Hernandez has been farming coffee for 40 years. A single mother to Marco Tulio Pinto, she raised and provided for her son barely surviving through the production of coffee. Every morning, she saddled up the horse and rode up into the “cafetals” or coffee patches to work. Her hard work in coffee provided the motivation for Marco Tulio to become the agricultural engineer for the local coffee cooperative. Maria Victoria has two grandchildren through Marco Tulio. It is her hope that with a new day in coffee through Thrive Farmers, that her grandchildren will have even more opportunities as a result of coffee and continue the family history in coffee.
  

  Maria Victoria Pinto Hernandez

  Origin: Honduras

  Region: Lempira

  Location: Gracias de Lempira

  Elevation: 4,950 feet (1500 meters)

  Varietal(s) Grown: Bourbon, Typica, Caturra

  
  

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  Alejandro Garcia Villalobos

  Alejandro Garcia Villalobos is the patriarch of Finca Santa Marta that has 7 hectares in production of coffee. The family through his son Luis Alejandro runs the coffee shop El Colibri at the mouth of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve. The farm had its challenges in the late 90’s and early 00’s as a result of the falling coffee market and the inability of the Cooperative, Coopeldos, R.L. located in El Dos, Costa Rica to find new sustainable markets.

  With the vision of Alejandro and his family, the farm was completely overhauled. The family vertically integrated the processes from seed to cup using sustainable farming practices. The farm has been recently recognized by the Food and Agricultural Administration of the United Nations for its innovative initiatives in sustainable production of coffee. The entire family is involved in the operation with son, Luis Alejandro, a founder of Thrive Farmers, son, Alexis Garcia Brenes in charge of farm production, son, Luis Fernando Garcia Villalobos in charge of processing including wet-milling, dry-milling and roasting, and daughter, Guiselle Garcia Villalobos in charge of various administration aspects of the operation. Don Alejandro still works the farm everyday and participates with his wife and children in the operation of the new vision of coffee for San Rafael through Thrive Farmers.
  

  Alejandro Garcia Villalobos

  Origin: Costa Rica

  Region: Monteverde

  Location: San Rafael de Abangares

  Elevation: 3960 feet (1200 meters)

  Varietal(s) Grown: Caturra

  
  

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