Doña Irma Soto is a real woman in coffee. She plants, she supervises field work, she almost harvests coffee herself, she wet mills all coffee lots and she deals with the buyer directly.

It is not easy to be by her own. But since her father died in 2000, she had to change her life and manage the land she inherited. Ever since she was a little girl, she watched her father do all those hard activities she now does like daily routine, including staying up until 2 in the morning to finish wet milling coffee.

“Some times I think it is not worth it”, she states like trying to go back to her old life style. “But as you can see, I may have done something right because my coffee lots have won Cup of Excellence already twice in a row!”, she concludes proud of a job well done.

Doña Irma has developed an additional sense in producing coffee. She knows that surviving is not just a “must” in this business, but she has learned that quality is the secret key to succeed. How she does it? She refers to the common saying in Spanish: “Al ojo del amo, engorda el ganado”, which means: if the owner watches over the cattle, it fattens.

That explains why it is very common to see Doña Irma driving her pick up carrying each bag of her lot directly to the official warehouse, and then she jokes: “Have you seen more women in coffee like me? I am also my own driver”, and she laughs. She just can’t risk someone else do the job. She is in control and she knows what she is doing.

She also has some other secrets, like spoiling her plantation with kisses and kind words so they produce fine quality coffee. This is something her employees have not accepted to do yet.

El Porvenir and Candelaria are completely cultivated with coffee and they are both located in the municipality of Amatitlán, in Guatemala department, around 45 minutes from Guatemala city. If you ever visit the place, you will understand why Doña Irma just could not resist accepting the challenge. The beauty of the landscape is accentuated by imposing volcanoes that rest in the waters of Lake Amatitlán.

Nature is one of her strategic partners in coffee production. She built a wet mill facility even before she new how she was going to obtain water. But then, she found the solution. Rain provided her with enough water to wet mill the entire crop every year.

Amatitlán Lake has something in common with Doña Irma, too. They both are vital sources of life and they both face obstacles to develop and fulfill their goals. Lake Amatitlán, for example, is now being rescued from pollution and Doña Irma is just recovering from the robbery of her coffee stored in her own warehouse.

But they both struggle until finding in the horizon hope that promises to reward one more journey of hard work and survival. Lake Amatitlán delighting others with its natural beauty, while Doña Irma pleasing the world with one of the finest coffees grown in Guatemala.

View on Cup of Excellence® website