Nicaragua Guadalupana Marta Nubia Yellow Catuai Grainpro

Coffee Background

Looking to support women in coffee? Martha Nubia Zelaya Perez is a newcomer to the league of female coffee producers. She started working in coffee to support her family of five just four years ago at her 22-acre farm called Guadalupana, which is located in the community El Volcán within the municipality of Dipilto in the department of Nueva Segovia. The farm was in bad shape from leaf rust damage when she took over. Immediately, she decided to make a fresh start and renovate the farm with parainema and Geisha, two varieties that have shown more resistance to the aggressive fungus. She also replanted yellow catuai because the reputation of the cup quality even though the variety is susceptible to leaf rust. Her exuberance has also put her at ease with innovation and she has not missed a step with this honey processed coffee. Martha built a micro-mill that ecologically runs with very little water by using a demucilager, which controls the amount of mucilage that remains on the coffee bean after depulping without fermenting or washing the coffee. For this honey process, ripe cherries are floated to remove less dense, damaged, and under ripe beans while still in the cherry. Then the cherries are depulped and the demucilager mechanically strips most of the mucilage from the bean. The coffee is then placed directly on raised beds to dry with a light layer of mucilage still attached to the bean. The honey process has enabled Martha to market her coffee as a micro-lot and earn better prices. With more income, Martha has been able to contribute funds to road repairs in her community and pay better wages to her employees.