top of page
Drone shot of coffee farm in honduras.jpg

A Farmstead Founders Collaboration

Three Generations, One Farm.

Teofilo Henriquez was a man of few words, his silence spoke volumes amidst the chatter of the farmstead founders. Amidst sacks of beans and the aroma of rich brews, he found his place. From the dusty streets of Honduras, he sold and traded beans with the community and local farmers.

​

With each transaction, Teofilo's dreams grew. From the humble exchange of beans, he saved to invest in his own farmland, setting a foundation for future generations to come. His vision stretching beyond the confines of the market stalls imagined land, fertile and promising, where the arabica plant could thrive under the Honduran sun and mountain climate.

​

In time, Teofilo's dreams took root. His hands, weathered by the tools of the trade, became those of a farmer. Amongst the hills of Ocotepeque, he carved out his legacy, a patchwork of green amidst the rugged terrain. Years passed, and Teofilo's son, Salomon, inherited his father's legacy. Under Salomon's watchful eye, the farm flourished. He expanded its borders, along with the next generation of family. Yet amidst the progress, the family held fast to tradition. Each coffee cherry was still plucked by hand, with the harvested beans carefully laid out to dry in the unforgiving sun. It was a ritual passed down through generations, a testament to the bond between a farmer and their land. 

 

In the year 2024, the farm saw a new chapter unfold. Miquel, Salomon's son, partnered with David Hewitt a restauranteur from Atlanta, GA. David and Miquel collaborated to bettger celebrate Ocotepeque coffee beyond the Honduran market.

The shared vision wasn't just about bringing the coffee overseas — it is also to bring a first world market to Honduras. While the coffee industry is touted to be the second largest industry next to oil, it is the farmers who have become the most marginalized. Specialized Arabica coffee is among the most sought after in the world, yet is mainly bought and sold with the humble buying power of a 3rd world economy. The surplus coffee that has been harvested is then sold off to big conglomerates, and for much less then the feeble price it is sold to the local community. That very coffee is often blended with lower quality coffee, repackaged and sold to secondary markets at a high volume and high margin.

​

Together, Miquel and David founded Farmstead Founders, a platform bridging worlds and generations. Through modern tools and local Honduran farming, they sought to elevate smallholder farmers from the third world to the first. The underlying model  carves out equity for the single origin farmer to share in the downstream revenue well after the beans are initially sold. Scaled up, this business model can offer the opportunity for other smallholder farms to be a part of the platform and diversify their crops into a shared and more sustainable platform. It's a philosophy of empowerment, of providing opportunity to one of the largest yet most marginalized industries in the world.

​

As the sun sets over the Honduran hills, the legacy of Teofilo Henriquez lives on. Through the hands of his descendants and the vision of Farmstead Founders, the spirit of coffee farming endures, reaching across continents and cultures, a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

Ocotopeque

bottom of page