Blog Post - 2026 Guatemala & Honduras Origin Trip

GUATEMALA & HONDURAS 2026 ORIGIN TRIP

Earlier this spring, Bjørnar visited our friends in Costa Rica, Guatemala, & Honduras. After spending a few days in Costa Rica together with our head of production, Ludvik, (more on that later), Bjørnar continued on to Guatemala and Honduras where he met up with Yusho from Fuglen Coffee Roasters Tokyo, David from Belleville in Paris, and Samuli from Frukt in Finland.

Guatemala

In Guatemala, they spent a few days with our friend Melanie Herrera at Beneficio Bella Vista in Antigua. Day 1 was spent mostly cupping, selecting lots, and visiting farms. This was Yusho’s first time in Guatemala, and we were excited to connect him with our friends there to make some of these great coffees available at Fuglen in Tokyo.

Beneficio Bella Vista has recently had a large focus on regenerative production. This means they have put a large effort into converting all farms they work with to use regenerative farming methods. So far, the farms they own or manage have all been converted. They also are providing resources and assistance to other local farmers to implement more regenerative farming practices.

What is ‘regenerative farming”, what does it look like in action? In general it is investing in soil health using natural means by things like planting shade trees and other plants that add nutrients to the soil. At the farms under Beneficio Bella Vista this is mostly banana trees, and cotton, which have multiuse (providing shade and nutrients as well as alternative that can be sold or used).

Unfortunately this year we will not have La Parcela from Melanie’s personal farm. This is the second year where the harvest has been too little, but we hope to continue supporting Melanie and her family in their amazing work! We expect great coffees from familiar producers like Los Yuc and Santa Cruz!

HONDURAS

After their time in Guatemala, Bjornar & Yusho continued on to Honduras to meet up with our friends there!

Day 1 - Benjamin Paz

The first day, they visited Benjamin Paz in La Leona, Santa Barbara. We were also excited to hear that he now has a name for his farm in La Leona: Las Elisas!

At Las Elisas, Benjamin has many different plots & varieties– he has been hard at work. Pacas is now divided in two, where he has been experimenting with using classic farming techniques on one lot and using regenerative farming techniques on the other lot. It was very interesting to see! While there have been many issues with drought due to the changing climate, Benjamin has seen even more of a need for shade trees. We are looking forward to seeing how his farming experiment will progress, as well as tasting the difference between these lots!

Day 2 - Sagastume Los Quetzales.

The next day, the team traveled with Arturo Paz, the cousin of Benjamin, to the Sagastume Family. We have been buying from the Sagastumes for several years. The operation is run by Pedro Sagastume & his 3 sons: Yeltsin, Yerin, Heyvis. Everything is organic, but not exported as certified organic. It is a beautiful area with the highest yield by far compared to surrounding farms in Santa Barbara. You can try this coffee from the Sagastume family now: Los Queztales!

After visiting Los Quetzales, they made their way to another of our dear friends at Los Tongos. They met with Franklin Castillo, brother to Carlos David Castillo, both sons of Israel Castillo. This was Bjørnar's first time meeting Franklin. Los Tongos is a staple on our menu and has been for many years. What is interesting is that this is the family's side hustle. They actually have a larger commercial coffee farm & a massive Yuca farm where they are the largest producers of Yuca used in local snack foods! They have recently removed all Pacamara trees from Los Tongos and are now focusing on growing mostly pacas with some good SL28.

Day 3 - Familia Moreno El Cedral

Finally they made their way to Familia Moreno at El Cedral. This is a very long relationship, both between Oslo & Tokyo. We recently started buying coffee from Mario Moreno in Oslo with the intention of selling it internationally, specifically at Fuglen Seoul.

In general this was a fantastic trip reconnecting with both our dear colleague Yusho in Tokyo, but also our good friends in Guatemala & Honduras! Coffees are making their way to Oslo and we cannot wait to showcase what they have produced!