About Finca Las 3JJJ

Sandra's coffee story begins in her childhood. Ever since she was very young, Sandra was immersed in the coffee industry, since her mother was dedicated to the same. However, as Sandra grew up, she decided to start a career as a teacher. She eventually got married and formed a family of her own, including her husband and their 3 children.

Sandra’s husband was dedicated to the coffee industry and had a farm 1380 meters above sea level in Mercedes Ocotepeque, Honduras. However, years later, he died. Following the death of her husband, Sandra dedicated her life to the farm, in an effort to commemorate her husband and his life’s work. She decided to name the farm as a tribute to their three children: John, Jennifer and Juan Diego; Finca 3JJJ.

Sandra worked hard to improve the farm and increase the plant size and quality, but this was not an easy task. One of the biggest challenges that Sandra had to overcome after the loss of her husband was discrimination and “machismo”, or the excessive masculinity that is rampant in Honduras. Unfortunately, there are still people who consider that women should not be in the coffee industry. Sometimes, even Sandra’s own family has questioned her abilities. However, with an impressive show of dedication and effort, Sandra has proved that she is very capable and deserves her place in the coffee industry. When asked what it means to be a woman in coffee, Sandra answers “passion”.

And so it has been 37 years since Sandra has been managing the farm. She has faced a long career full of ups and downs, but above all, it has been one big learning experience. Now, Sandra considers her area of greatest expertise to be fertilization and harvesting. Even after all this time, she hasn’t lost her curiosity and drive to keep improving. Sandra would like to learn more about commercialization, as one of her biggest goals is to sell coffee on her own, not through a cooperative as she does now. She wants people to know her farm for the delicious coffee she produces, and look for it when they buy coffee.

Finca 3JJJ grows and harvests 3 types of coffee- paca, coffee 90, and parainema. These are more than just delicious coffee; Sandra’s coffee proudly features 2 very important certifications- Fair Trade and Organic Coffee. In other words, her coffee is not grown with any type of chemicals, neither to clean nor fertilize, and all her workers are fairly compensated. Sandra takes efforts to ensure that her coffee helps the environment and the land it is grown on, preserving the flora and fauna and taking care of the surrounding water sources.