Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Argueta-gross
Hi Andrea, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born in Guatemala, an incredibly beautiful country, where nature and stunning landscapes greet you at every turn, from lush jungles to majestic volcanoes. It’s also a land rich in culture and history, with roots in Mayan civilization that continue to shape its traditions today. However, Guatemala faces significant challenges as a developing country, dealing with economic and social challenges, including widespread poverty, political instability, unequal access to resources and forced migration.
Since I was a child I always loved Guatemala, and I knew that it was my calling to do something for my country, whether I was inside or outside of it. The discomfort of seeing injustices in such a beautiful country, led me to want to study it to change it and I dedicate myself to studying Anthropology and Sociology. Since I was 17 years old, I managed to travel all over the country, I traveled to it’s 22 states. I have been working with small producers for 13 years. I saw first hand the needs of my country and I became passionate about the issues of agriculture and migration.
Coffee has always been important in my life, my grandparents and my grandparents’ grandparents have always produced coffee for their consumption. Coffee for me is more than beans, it’s history, it’s culture, a celebration of the land and the hands that produced it, it’s a ritual, it’s consolation, a burst of warmth that has the power to awaken your soul. But not everything is precious in coffee, coffee is also a struggle. The coffee market is unfair and inequitable, there are great challenges within coffee farming, producers face volatile prices and few opportunities for a direct, fair and conscious market.
But it was until I met Joey that coffee became part of my life’s project.
Joey and I first met in 2020 at a coffee shop in Antigua Guatemala. After asking me if he could take a seat at my table, we had our first conversation about coffee, cup in hand. Joey had a clear vision for coffee, to work hand-in-hand with Guatemalan coffee-producing communities to be the industry standard in the sustainable coffee market. And I loved it.
We had a couple of years of research, understanding in depth the dynamics and improvements that could be made in coffee. We knew that the principles and model of our company had to be built from the source. We mapped coffee in Guatemala, visited several producers, tasted their coffees, and found gems. We found traditional coffee producers who have struggled, who work hard and who have a passion for coffee, but who are also specialty producers with differentiated lots and extremely delicious coffees.
We bought our first quintal of coffee in September of 2022, the producers had decided for the first time the price of their coffee, and that is how El Conecte Coffee was born; from field relationships, shared learning and developing a win-win model from day one.
We had the best source, but where is it best to roast coffee? To us the answer was simple, at origin in Guatemala. We challenge industry standards by roasting our specialty coffee right at its source, just a few miles from where it’s grown, and then shipping it directly to consumers. Our supply chain requires fewer steps from farm to cup and significantly boosts coffee producer’s and roaster’s incomes. We wanted all aspects of production to take place in Guatemala because it’s not only beneficial for the quality of the coffee but also ensures that most of the earnings stay within local communities, helping to support and uplift the people who have been cultivating coffee for generations.
Joey and I fell in love in the process, the love of coffee brought us together and we got married in July 2023. I moved that July from Guatemala to California, leaving everything behind for love and for the dream that everyone in the United States will taste El Conecte Coffee.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There are several significant challenges that arise when you take on the entire supply chain, it requires a serious investment of time and capital. Cutting out all the middlemen in the coffee supply chain, where you’re handling everything from the farm to the consumer, is an ambitious and complex undertaking, but so necessary and important.
Also, being a Roasted at Origin company against medium to large roasters in the U.S. can be pretty challenging, since it can be quite difficult for producers and roasters at origin to finance and develop their own roastery. Nevertheless, we’ve been working closely with a few coffee producers to help fund and develop their own roasting operations. The Roasted at Origin movement faces an uphill battle against larger, established U.S. roasters, but with the right focus on consumer education, quality, and market positioning, it has the potential to grow and change the way coffee is consumed globally.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about El Conecte Coffee Co. El Conecte in spanish can be slang for “the connect”, “the connection”, “the link”, or “the plug” as we say in English?
We are a husband and wife-owned and operated coffee company. We sell our coffee beans online directly to consumers. In addition, we have office clients who purchase whole-bean coffee and cold brew. In March, we will open a coffee bar inside of a co-working space here in Los Angeles!
We work directly with coffee producers and specialize in sourcing “roasted-at-origin” coffee from the volcanic highland regions of Guatemala. By roasting coffee at the origin (where it’s grown), coffee producers retain a larger share of the value chain, which is typically dominated by roasters and retailers in consuming countries. Roasting at the origin creates jobs, boosts the local economy, and encourages skill development in roasting and quality control which elevates the skills of local workers and fosters entrepreneurship. This model gets the younger generation of coffee growers more excited about being coffee growers. They are more involved in the journey from bean to cup. Additionally, shipping roasted coffee that’s ready for sale directly to consumers requires fewer steps in the supply chain. Our model is much less environmentally invasive than exporting green (unroasted) beans to faraway countries for roasting and then redistributing.
We currently roast our coffee with a small all women-managed roaster about an hour from the farms. We have also been working with a few coffee producers to fund and develop their own roastery. We plan to sell our first “producer-roasted coffee” this year with our new line of coffees. We will be the direct link (El Conecte) between Guatemalan coffee growers/roasters and consumers. The opportunity to work with coffee producers to create this special link is something I am very grateful for and proud of. Being a part of the roasted-at-origin movement is something we value deeply.
At our company, we are guided by values that prioritize the well-being of both people and the planet. We’re committed to sustainable practices that not only produce exceptional coffee but also nurture local coffee communities and promote a healthier environment.
Our coffee portfolio features a collection of small-batch, specialty coffees. We love showcasing the rich diversity of coffee, from single-origin farms to expertly crafted blends. We’re excited to announce that we will launch a new line of coffees in March 2025. I’ll be spending February in Guatemala during harvest time, working with producers and roasters to finalize our new product line.
If you’re in Los Angeles and interested in collaborating with us – whether your team would like to taste our coffee and be part of our Cupping Rooms at Playa Vista or if you are exploring custom blends and roast levels – we got you, we’d love to connect. Please feel free to contact us or recommend us to anyone you think may be interested in our delicious coffees for their home or business. We greatly appreciate it!
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I learned to ride horses on my grandfather’s farm and have admired the loyalty of horses ever since. I’m also a lover of bodies of water; I learned to swim in a frozen river and became a swimmer in college. Since then, I’ve always sought out lakes and beaches, which is why I enjoy living in Los Angeles, so close to the beach. I’ve always searched for God and strive to keep Him at the center of my life. I was naturally curious, driven by an impulse to explore, to dig deeper, and never take things at face value, which is why I became an action researcher. I’ve always loved to travel, learning about other cultures and languages. Injustice has always made me uncomfortable, which led me to become an activist as part of the university student movement. I learned to do politics while trying to overthrow a president—and we succeeded.
Pricing:
- Visit our website for 12 oz, 5lb and Custom Coffee Bags https://elconectecoffee.com/collections/products
- Contact us for any Wholesale relationship, Coffee for your business or Cold Brew requests [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: https://elconectecoffee.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elconectecoffee/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElConecteCoffee
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elconectecoffee
Image Credits
El Conecte Coffee Co.
