What’s the best way to support coffee producers? This is exactly the question Juan de Dios Castillo (the family’s agronomist) and his 4 siblings were looking to answer when they created J&M Family Coffee, a privately-owned export company named after their parents Juan and Miriam (J&M). Their first goal was to sell their parents’ coffee directly to international buyers. It was a way to honor their parents who started cultivating coffee during their childhood with the income from the first family business as tailors in the town of Jinotega. With this first goal completed, Juan de Dios Castillo decided to take on a new challenge and start his own farm called El Pastoral, which has 150 acres of coffee production. Cherries from Finca Pastoral are selected for more specialized processing rather than the more common washed processing. This Natural processed lot is a stunning example of the skill and commitment Juan de Dios has invested in the family business. During the harvest, the coffee cherries are carefully harvested, and transported to the dry-mill where the weather conditions are more stable for evenly drying coffee inside the cherry. After drying is completed, the coffee is stored and later prepared for export at the same dry-mill. This is a truly integrated model, in which J&M Family Coffee ensures quality control and traceability from farm to export. Royal has the distinguished honor of being the first importer to buy from J&M Family Coffee when they started operations in 2014.
