From Estate to a Single Farm: La Planta Coffee Estates and Finca Las Marias

We love when we’re able to feature more than one coffee on our menu from a single producer—especially from someone we’ve been working with for quite some time. It’s a great way for us to highlight the hard work they put into creating a variety of delicious coffees. We met Erick Toledo of Finca Las Marias in 2019, when we met during our Q-Grader certification course. What started off as studying for a rigorous exam and sharing cupping notes grew into a long term coffee relationship: we paid Erick a visit in Guatemala, and from 2020, we started using one of their lots as a blend component for Short Strand. Now, we’re excited to feature one of their coffees in our single origin rotation.

Although Finca Las Marias officially became its own farm only a few years ago, its roots extend back to 1966, when Mario Rolando Solis established La Planta Coffee Estates. He was a pioneer in coffee: at the time, he was the first to plant coffee in the municipality of Esquipulas, Chiquimula Department. After Mr. Solis’s passing in 2018, the estate was divided into three and renamed by his successors: Finca El Guayabo now belongs to his son Rolando Arturo Solis Pais, Finca Tizaquin now owned by his son Raul Francisco Solis Paiz, and Finca Las Marias owned by his daughter, Maria del los Angeles Solis Paiz. 

Meeting up at the Specialty Coffee Expo in Boston 2022. The Solis family participated at the Guatemalan coffees booth. Pictured: (top row) Lauren and Juan Luis Barrios, President of Anacafé; (bottom row), Corey, Corazon, Maria, and Rolando

While Rolando and Raul manage their farms, Maria’s husband, Erick, manages Finca Las Marias. The three take care of their own farms, but they work together by sharing a central office that takes care of all administrative matters and hiring the same employees that work their way throughout the three farms. Altogether, they have 15 permanent employees and 40 temporary employees during the harvest season. All permanent employees live at the farm, where they have a house and are given land to grow their own crops.

Award winners of the national and regional competition by Anancafé. Several winners are a part of the Esquipulas Coffee Co-op, including Erick (bottom row, far right), Rolando (top row, fourth to the left), and Rolando (top row, second to the right).

The collaboration between Erick, Rolando, and Raul extends beyond their family ties. They  formed the Esquipulas Coffees Cooperative with several other family farmers to help promote Esquipulas as an area for producing specialty coffee. Erick and a few of the farmers in the co-op received several recognitions from Anacafe regional arabica competitions and competitions in the Trifino area (Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala). Finca Las Marias is particularly noted for producing one of the top 5 fine robustas in a national competition.

It’s no surprise to us that Finca Las Marias has gained recognition and is on the up and up. Erick is always seeking knowledge and looking for ways to improve coffee quality and farm operations through experimentation and innovation. He’s a firm believer in using natural products for growing coffee trees and avoids using fungicides and herbicides on the farm. He’s able to keep processing at the farm sustainable by using new technologies such as waterless pulpers.

Coffees drying inside the solar dryer.

Erick mainly produces washed coffees, but this coffee is one of the few naturals from the 2021-2022 harvest season. Ripe cherries are picked and placed in solar dryers for 16-20 days until it is ready to be bagged and left to rest and dry at the mill warehouse. The solar dryers allow Erick to have better control of the environment to evenly dry the coffee. The end result is a beverage that is smooth and goes down like juice! We taste green apple, melon, and milk chocolate. If you’re looking to slowly venture out into more fruity flavors in your cup, this coffee is the perfect gateway.