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    Arleen & Maria Jimenez

    Arleen and Maria Jimenez are two sisters whose passion for coffee has taken their family's farm and wet mill to the next level. Their father manages coffee production on Finca Mario Jimenez Gamboa, while the sisters oversee processing at Beneficio La Angostura. Their operations are located between 1700 and 1900 masl in the beautiful mountains of Tarrazu, Costa Rica. We are excited to feature Angostura Espresso, a beautiful honey-processed Catuaí, as our first coffee from Arleen and Maria Jimenez.

    Arleen Jimene
    About
    Beneficio La Angostura & Bean Voyage

    Arleen and Maria Jimenez were early participants in Bean Voyage, a non-profit organization founded in 2019 that provides training, capital, and market access to smallholder women producers so they can improve farm performance, earn a thriving income, and lead sustainable lives. The program has connected the two sisters to a larger network of like-minded women producers, allowing them to gain new perspectives and find solutions to the problems their family farm was facing.

    Through their involvement in Bean Voyage's participatory storytelling initiative, the sisters each filmed and produced their own short documentary. The entire 5-part series is called “Más que un café” and is available online. We will also be hosting periodic viewings and discussions at our café in Berlin.

    Arleen and Maria’s father, Don Mario Jimenez founded the finca 30 years ago and then the wet mill, Beneficio La Angostura, in 2006. Growing up, Arleen and Maria can remember good times when the business was prospering and bad times when failure was close. The two sisters joined their family's business in their 20s. They wanted to do their part to confront the challenges the family was facing: low market prices, ever growing production costs, and lack of support from the local coffee industry. Arleen recalls how thinly her father was stretched. On top of coffee farming and processing, Don Mario also needed to network, market and sell the family’s coffee. When Arleen and Maria joined, they took over processing and left their father in charge of farm production. Becoming involved in Bean Voyage has enabled them to become connected to a wider network of producers and to increase their access to international markets.