Maria Palacio is a businesswoman and coffee expert who has bet it all on her ideas. She wants to make coffee more sustainable, improving the lives of farmers and developing an efficient company that benefits all processes, from the moment that the coffee bean is planted to its arrival at coffee shops.
Palacio, originally born in Colombia, moved to the United States 15 years ago, hoping to work in the fashion industry. She moved to New York City, where she was quick to catch the city's obsession with coffee, no matter its high price. Palacio quickly realized that coffee producers weren't the ones who were benefiting from these expensive prices.
“It is the strength passed down through generations, the power to rise above adversity, and the ability to find beauty amidst challenges."
Seeing an opportunity to exploit her knowledge and skill sets, Maria left the world of fashion and committed herself to coffee, a business that her family had been pursuing for generations. “Everyone in New York was happy to pay more than five dollars for a cup of coffee, while I kept thinking about my family struggling to make a profit and hold on to our farms. It didn’t make sense,” she said in an interview with Modern Farmer.
It all led to Progeny Coffee, a coffee shop that Maria and her husband, John Trabelsi, founded. Aside from making a great cup of coffee, the company focuses on its social impact and devises plans that can positively affect the workers who need it most.
Maria and her husband spent years traveling through Colombia, studying and developing an understanding of their farmers' needs, submerging themselves in the production chains to learn how coffee companies work. According to data acquired from the Borgen Project, Colombia is one of the world's leading makers of coffee, yet many of the farmers who live there barely make enough money to make ends meet. Some of these farmers earn an average salary of $2 a day.
Maria is hoping to make an impact in the coffee industry and to help the people back home. She wants to push Colombian farmers to abandon the market of Arabica coffee, instead focusing on growing beans like Caturra and Castilla, which are cheaper yet still provide rich combinations of flavors with notes of caramel, milk chocolate, pears, and more.
Usually, makers of Colombian coffee don't know the price they'll receive for their product, only learning it once the product has been delivered to buyers. With Progeny Coffee, farmers are provided with a model of fixed prices, providing them with some certainty regarding their income.
The company has also simplified the process of making coffee, reducing the 10-step process to three, getting rid of all unnecessary third parties.
“By forging direct relationships with farmers, we ensure that the value of your purchase directly benefits those who pour their hearts into growing exceptional coffee."
Maria's steps can be summed up in collecting the beans, transporting them, classifying them, breaking them, and exporting them. Lastly, there's the process of importing, toasting, and distributing. Her company has also developed a model that supports coffee makers in becoming better sellers and farmers through education, financial help, and technical support.
According to Progeny's website, the company has multiplied the income of over 25 farmers. Currently, they sell six varieties of coffee, with three of their locations located in San Francisco. "We dream to move beyond the bean, beyond the farm, hoping to help farmers, their families, and communities, building schools, teaching public classes, and helping them craft a new life."