We first met Benjamin Paz on a sourcing trip to Honduras in 2018. We have been buying coffee through his Beneficio San Vicente ever since. 2023 marks the first year we are sourcing coffee from Ben's personal farms.
Meet Honduran Coffee Producer Benjamin Paz
5 Years in Relationship
6,384 Pounds Sourced
We have purchased coffee from 3 different producers as well as Benjamin himself. We have always established pricing directly with Benjamin and paid well above market price all these years.
3 Farm Visits
We have taken 6 different Carabello Coffee staff to visit with Benjamin since 2018.
STORY OF HOW WE MET BENJAMIN PAZ
Benjamin Paz is well known for putting the coffee of Santa Barbara on the specialty coffee map. Alongside his family, Benjamin runs the exporting company Beneficio San Vicente. With this platform he created a program that connects farmers in the area with roasters from around the globe. Those roasters commit to buying 100% of that farmers crop at a good price in hopes that the farmers would then have the ability to make improvements to their farm, their infrastructure, their practices, and form deep and meaningful relationships.
Back in 2017, we made our first sourcing trip to Honduras, spending some time with Benjamin and eventually buying coffee from several producers through his Beneficio San Vicente program for the next 5 years: Rosenda Manueles, Maria Fernandez and Gabriel Leiva. On that trip, a group of us Americanos shared a really special moment when we joined Benjamin's team in a friendly, yet fiercely competitive, game of futbol. There was blood shed and some very intense moments, all capped by a winning goal by Jeff Brooks of Giv Coffee, who was nearly carried off the field. Something about sharing that moment went a long way in creating a bond between us and Ben.
In 2017 Benjamin did not have any farms of his own, but that all changed in 2018 when he purchased land and began planning his first of two farms, La Salsa and La Orquidea. Given that new coffee shrubs take three years to come to maturity, it was not until 2021 that the farms began producing enough of a harvest for Benjamin to export.
Over the years we would meet up with Benjamin at Specialty Coffee Association events, always trying to have dinner together and catch up. We also made a few more trips to Honduras and connected with Ben while there.
At the beginning of 2023, Justin took a small team of our baristas down to visit Benjamin. The team had the opportunity to spend time with him and get a unique and personal look into everything that Benjamin has been doing. Reflecting on his experience, Cheyne said, “When I met Benjamin, I had this sense that I would have an immediate friend. He is a guy who has coffee swagger and to be honest I was a little intimidated by how well this guy is known in the coffee industry. However when I met him, he was the most genuine and loving guy who sincerely cares about his community, his coffee, the coffee producers, the coffee culture, and Honduras as a whole. Getting to know Ben made me really appreciate even more what we sell and brew on a daily basis.”
This time Benjamin had coffee available for us to purchase from his own farms! We brought in a lovely parainema and an anaerobic honey processed pacas that is bursting with complex fruit flavors. We are excited to share these coffees with you and to continue deepening our friendship with Benjamin.