Interview with Marianela Montero of Selva Coffee (English)
Marianela visiting Don Adrian Hernandez farm in Heredia in the Central Valley region.
My name is Marianela Montero. I run my own company Selva Coffee in Costa Rica. Selva Coffee works with about 40 smallholder producers and helps them promote their coffee. We also assist roasters and importers to find amazing, transparent coffees and build sustainable relationships with all of our partners in the process.
Marianela visiting Luis Vindas farm in Santa Maria, Dota. Luis has a beautiful farm at 1900 masl, he grows Catuai, Geisha, and SL-28 in his farm. He just started processing micro lots last harvest and he is happy with the results, and so are we!
Marianela’s family (L-R): Jacob (brother), Lucia (mom), Carlos (father), Eli (grandfather), Mariajose (sister)
My family has been growing coffee for four generations and I grew up in the coffee farms in the region of Tarrazu. As children, during school vacations, me and my siblings used to go harvest coffee with our parents, after we picked the coffee, we always used to deliver our cherries to a local Coop that took care of the processing and trade of the product. It was something we always saw as hard work but it taught us to work hard to make our dreams come true. After going to High School in Tarrazu, I moved to the city to go to University, where I studied International Business and Trade. After University my family decided to start their own wet mill, Don Eli, to process their own coffee, add value to our product, and therefore make more in return. My family doesn’t regret to have started this project, we have seen a huge improvement and even when it’s challenging it’s worth all the effort, we love what we do! My parents wanted me to learn more about coffee trade and the industry in general but this time from a different perspective, so they suggested me to spend some time in the States to learn more about coffee. After I spent some time doing an Internship at Bodhileaf Coffee Traders in Orange, CA I moved to Sydney Australia to work at Reuben Hills, a local roastery for a few months.
(L-R): Perry Czopp, Marianela, Rosemary, Kevin, and Rosemary’s kids and father. Rosemary and her husband Luis have a really nice wet mill in Tarrazu. They started processing 5 bags 4 years ago and nowadays they are selling around 40 bags to different markets like the UK and Canada. They specialize in full honeys.
I learned so much about coffee in these two Internships that motivated me to continue learning about the specialty coffee market. Through my connections in the industry, I traveled for more than two years and spent some time doing another Internship - this time for Nordic Approach, an importing company in Norway. In 2015 I started a sourcing project with farmers in Costa Rica for Nordic Approach. I traveled to different Central American origins and met a lot of people from the producing and consuming side of coffee.
Marianela and part of the group of farmers she works with. Selva Coffee does regular educational events for farmers. This photo was taken at one of these events in an experimental farm where we invited experts in coffee genetics and varietal materials resistant to leaf rust and with good cup quality.
I really enjoyed tasting different coffees and learning what details are behind every cup of coffee. The relationships we build throughout the years are something I really value about coffee and my job. Coffee in general teaches you to be patient, for example think how long does it take a coffee plant to produce coffee, it can take 4 years and even more from the moment we grow it until we harvest the first cherries. I very much appreciate that Costa Rica is a very peaceful country and easy to travel and meet people compared to other origins.
Perry Czopp and Marianela Montero Czopp visiting a farm in Central Valley. Central Valley is one of the 8 coffee regions in Costa Rica and it’s disappearing because of the urban sprawl. This farm has great potential and it’s so healthy. These are some Java plants, not a normal varietal to grow in Costa Rica, but on this farm it’s doing amazing.
In 2018 I started together with my husband - Selva Coffee. Right now it’s just the two of us and during the harvest we get help, usually, an intern helps us, currently, this intern is a woman, her name is Maria Paula, she is the daughter of a farmer we work with, she is very passionate and loves coffee. I feel very lucky and proud to teach her the knowledge I’ve acquired during these years. I also work closely with a logistics company, they are of great support. In my country most of the people are men, but I always feel respected and appreciated by them. I’ve been working with them for four years and I cannot complain.
Some of the producers we work with attending an educational event we organized.
Our farmers cupping their coffees, very important for farmers to learn about cupping. We invite farmers to monthly cuppings in order to teach them to taste their coffees.
We also work constantly with farmers, roasters, and importers; a few of them are women but mostly men. It is interesting to work with different cultures that have a reputation for having unequal status between women and men because in my case I feel even with these cultures having this reputation and I’m empowered and respected by them. I have to say I feel very supported and respected in general by both men and women, but there is something that makes me very excited and happy about working with women in coffee and seeing the strength we share and all the things we have accomplished in this industry. I’m the woman leader in my company :)
Marianela hosting a cupping with international buyers and farmers in Costa Rica. The exchange of knowledge was amazing.
My family and the love and passion I have for coffee is what keeps me working in this beautiful industry. For me, coffee runs through our veins and it’s been a legacy. I also see my job and coffee in general as an opportunity to grow professionally but also personally. All the experiences I had in other countries meeting a lot of coffee professionals like Aida Batlle, Tim Wendelboe, Peter Giuliano, and other great coffee people have inspired me to keep working in this challenging but rewarding industry. Before I traveled to learn about the other side of the industry (consuming side) I didn’t enjoy coffee as much, it wasn’t until I traveled the world and understand the consuming side that I fell in love with coffee.
Visiting a cooperative with our purchasing partners.
The coffee industry all over the world connects people, it’s something unique about coffee. I think we are connected by the passion. Everywhere in the world coffee is a tough business, you don’t become rich from working in coffee. Specialty coffee, in particular, is difficult and it takes time. The consuming countries, as well as the producing countries, need to work very hard and be patient in order to be successful and sustainable in this business.
Specialty coffee is growing but it’s a process and it takes time to educate people to drink and value good quality coffee. For us women in coffee, there are challenges in the way that coffee is dominated by males so there are still some stereotypes for examples with the jobs for a roaster or farmer that can be just done by strong men, but little by little this has been changing and more women are executing these “men jobs”. The successes are many, especially nowadays, the world has become less “macho” and we can freely do “men jobs” without being judged. I think when our grandmothers were younger they weren’t even allowed to work outside of the house, they were guided to be housewives. Nowadays women can work outside of the home, be independent and do jobs that were considered for men; which I think is a big step and big success.
Marianela asking Roger Ureña farm management practices while visiting his farm with roasters.
I work closely with around 40 farmers and their families in my country, most of them are located in my community, a few of them are based in other regions of Costa Rica. On the other hand, I work with many roasters and importers. I have a pretty unique perspective because I get to work with both: the farmers and the roasters; most of the farmers I work with are men but some of them are women.
For example, Daniela Gutierrez, a 26-year-old farmer, is one of the greatest examples for a young farmer that went to University, got her degree, and came back to the farms to take over her family business. She is running her family’s wet mill and doing many other tasks involved with the farm and mill finances, operations and sales. Another great example is Erica Monge, she is a woman who suffered cancer and lost one of her legs; together with her 3 young children -- Tatiana, Maricruz and Raquel -- they run a very nice and organized wet mill. It’s amazing to see the work these 4 women are doing in coffee. Like them, there are other great examples of producers in my community.
I feel very proud and honored to work with farmers like them as well as with awesome roasters around the world. It’s really inspiring to see roasters like Kristyna Smudova from Kikafe in the Czech Republic, Trish Rothgeb from Wrecking Ball in San Francisco supporting the farmers we work with but at the same time doing a great job on the roasting and consuming side of this industry. My company Selva Coffee is all about supporting these women and connecting both sides of the industry by creating a sustainable business for all of us involved in it.
