Honduras | Celia Portillo

Region: Pichingo, Honduras
Process: Washed
Variety: Bourbon
Altitude: 1750 masl
We Taste: Plum, Brown Sugar, Milk Chocolate

Though Celia has been producing coffee for many years, this is only her second year processing her own coffee down to parchment. Historically, she loaded her coffee on donkeys and sold cherry or depulped coffee in the nearby town of Comoyagua at market price. As production costs have increased year over year, this model has become increasingly less sustainable for smallholder producers, like Celia. A few years ago, she requested assistance from her nephew, Jesus Galeas to help process, dry, and improve the quality of her coffee. Jesus is a multigenerational coffee producer, with experience as a field technician for the Honduras Coffee Institute (IHCAFE). Currently Jesus acts as an on the ground support-network for the producers that Semilla purchases from, and he connected Celia with Semilla. 

Celia's coffee was our favorite among the samples we tasted from Semilla last year. For this lot, cherries are harvested at peak ripeness and stored in sealed plastic bags in the shade for 35 hours. They were then depulped and underwent a secondary fermentation in sealed bags for an additional 35 hours. Afterwards, the remaining mucilage is washed off and the coffee is dried on raised beds to 10.5% moisture content. In the cup, we predominantly taste fruit flavors of plum and grape, with some subtle tropical flavors like starfruit, backed by a deep chocolatey and brown sugary base. 

This year, Semilla purchased Celia's entire production intended both for microlots and to be included in a regional blend. Semilla's work in Honduras involves equipping smallholder producers with the technical skills to increase the quality of their coffee and process it themselves. They then help provide market access by connecting those producers with buyers. By investing heavily and repeatedly into producers and their communities, their goal is to create resilient, enduring supply chains, and alter the historically exploitive nature of foreign investment to these communities. We strongly believe in Semilla's vision and are excited to begin supporting their work in Honduras along with the Colombian coffees we buy from them.

Our Total Cost: $9.15/lb
Packaging, labor, and weight loss: $4.00/lb
Green Price: $5.15/lb
FOB Price:  $3.31/lb
Farm Gate Price: 7400 Lempira/quintal 
Context Local Market Farm Gate Price (2024): 2400 Lempira/quintal

Importer: Semilla

*We roast on Tuesdays and ship the following day; order deadline is 7:00 am Tuesday morning; local pick-up orders will be ready on Fridays