Rabbit Hole Roastery – Luis Rolden

This group of Indigenous Xinka people are interested in developing an international market for their coffee, and therefore finally receiving fair prices for their work.

Five harvests ago, Luis had never sold coffee on the international market. He had 14 bags ready for export, and Rabbit Hole purchased them all. And these 14 bags from one producer lead to Rabbit Hole now buying around 100 bags yearly from smallholders in the region, making these lots the most impactful on their menu.

Luis, an agricultural engineer by trade and a university teacher who ran for mayor in Casillas, is an active member of the Mataquescuintla resistance group.

In recent years, he was instrumental in using his contacts with local NGOs to acquire an eco-pulper, which allows producers to not only process their coffee to parchment in their own beneficios, but also to do so with a minimal amount of water, given that the whole region has been drought-stricken for years and water is a precious commodity.

Luis also started a local roasting brand to help generate revenues for families in the region.