Meet the Farmer with David Lopez of El Socorro, Honduras

We were excited to welcome Honduran Coffee Farmer David Lopez to our Crimson Cup Coffee Houses and the Crimson Cup Innovation Lab as part of our “Meet the Farmer” series.

David also visited the Ohio State University and Upper Arlington’s Barrington Elementary School, where he accepted a donation of computers and projectors equipped with English-language teaching tools for his community’s elementary school.

“David has an amazing story to tell of the power of education, and he’s a strong proponent of increasing educational opportunities for El Socorro students,” said our Founder and President Greg Ubert. “Through our Friend2Farmer direct trade program, we’ve been working with David and the village of El Socorro to improve the quality of their coffee and achieve community goals.”

During his appearances, David presented samples of his micro-lot coffee, which is grown from catuai varietals at an elevation of 5,250 feet. Lightly roasted, this washed and patio sun-dried coffee has a syrupy body with caramel and brown sugar notes. This micro-lot is available at the Connecting Grounds coffee house on the Ohio State campus and is among the featured coffee in rotation at Crimson Cup Coffee Houses. It can also be purchased via the Crimson Cup website.

David made a special visit to Barrington Elementary School to meet with fifth grade students who recently studied different trade models for goods imported into the U.S. They learned about the direct trade model Crimson Cup has established with El Socorro farmers.

At the end of the presentation, Crimson Cup and the Barrington students presented David with tools to help children at El Socorro’s Jose Cecilio del Valle elementary school develop the English-speaking skills they need to pursue education beyond the sixth grade. An earlier class of Barrington students had raised $3,328, which was used to purchase two laptop computers and three wireless projectors. Ohio State students are in the process of translating teaching materials that can be downloaded to the laptops to aid El Socorro teachers in English instruction.

Through our Friend2Farmer direct trade program, we conduct annual service trips to Honduras with a group of students to support David’s efforts. We developed Friend2Farmer to ensure that farmers receive a fair share of proceeds from coffee sales. We pay an above-market premium to farmers, who can then invest in agricultural and community improvements. Our coffee experts also collaborate with farmers on ways to improve the quality of the coffee and quality of life for farmers, workers and their communities.

We’ll be hosting one of the world’s top Q-graders at our next “Meet the Farmer” session. Guatemalan Q Grader Jorge De Leon Ovalle will visit the Innovation Lab and our Coffee Houses in late June.