RICARDO ZELAYA COFFEE
“Zelaya Farms exemplifies everything we value and are trying to create as a company. ”
– Chas Studor, Founder & CTO
The Perfect Partnership
Briggo’s partnership with Ricardo Zelaya Coffee is the best pairing since peanut butter & jelly. We’ve chosen Zelaya Farms as our direct trade partner for the Guatemalan portion of our four-part Briggo Blend because of their dedication to impeccable coffee, creating opportunities for others and our shared vision for the future of coffee.
Zelaya Farms is very well-regarded in the Santa Clara region of Guatemala for their consistency and high-quality coffee beans. This comes from a very precise set of processes their harvested beans must undergo before being exported for enjoyment. It is also because of their willingness to help smaller farmers gain access to equipment, which helps increase the quality of their beans and, in turn, their profits. This is something that spoke to our founder, Chas Studor. Chas’ vision was not only to empower people to create their perfect cups of coffee through robotics and technology but also to connect users back to the origin of the coffee they love so much. By doing so, it creates opportunities for farmers to share their story.
Briggo’s main purpose is to bring fantastic coffee to people’s fingertips and enable them to find their perfect cup of coffee. For this to happen we need partners that we can trust from the very beginning of the process to the end. Zelaya is part of the beginning.
Follow Ricardo Zelaya Coffee
Their Story
It all started in Antigua Valley in 1908, when Ricardo’s great-grandfather had the vision of getting involved in the coffee industry. Immediately, he started acquiring properties in different parts of Guatemala, which became the beautiful coffee farms we have today. Family members of the generations that followed him grew up surrounded by coffee plantations and devoted their lives to the quality and production of coffee, becoming some of the first coffee exporters from Guatemala.
Management of the farms was passed on from generation to generation. It was until 1989 when Ricardo Zelaya, the fourth generation of coffee growers, completed his degree in agribusiness from Zamorano and the University of Florida, and eagerly started transforming the farms into what they are today. This moment marked the beginning of our company, with a small but passionate crew excited to work hard and produce the highest quality coffee in the world.
Over 25 years later, we are now a strong team under Ricardo’s wings. A team who is committed and in love with the gallant beverage they produce and their social and environmental responsibilities. Ricardo’s laugh, philosophy, and passion are the key factors in the success of our happy business culture and our internationally recognized coffees.
Briggo’s Visit to Guatemala
Our Visit
Our fearless founder, Chas Studor, had the privilege of visiting Guatemala this past December with students from the Center for Coffee Research and Education at A&M. During his trip, he visited The Zelaya family’s Santa Clara farm and smaller farmers in the region. Below are the pictures from Chas’ visit to Santa Clara. If you’d like to know more about the first half of his trip you can check it out here.
