Coffee travels far — when a coffee shop patron in the U.S. sits down to enjoy an internationally sourced brew, they are sitting at the end of a long and complex supply chain that draws from countries all over the world.
When Sean lived in Honduras, one of the world’s top coffee exporters, he grew acquainted with the people that set this chain in motion at the source — local Honduran coffee producers. These are the farmers that make their living growing, processing, and selling coffee. Unfortunately, conventional market conditions are making this pursuit increasingly difficult. Often, producers sell their coffee off to local exporters, and there ends their involvement in the product’s journey. Profits are distributed inequitably across the supply chain, and producers get the shortest end of the stick, with many driven into poverty due to the unsustainable pricing model.
Yet the demand for coffee, particularly specialty, high-quality variety, is on the rise. Coffee roasters want what Honduran coffee producers have, and Honduran Coffee Alliance (HCA) is on a mission to connect these two parties directly (with a little help from Kiva!).
How Sean and Honduran Coffee Alliance are bridging the gap
Sean is a former aerospace engineer-turned-missionary, and now Chief Director of Logistics and Sales at Honduran Coffee Alliance. He currently lives in the Chicago area with his wife and three children, but 10 years ago, missionary work brought Sean and his wife to Honduras. There, he was exposed to the nation’s coffee-growing community and the unique challenges that coffee producers face, which in turn inspired him to form Honduran Coffee Alliance in 2018.
Sean on coffee producer Bryan’s farm in Marcala, Honduras
Honduran Coffee Alliance connects buyers of coffee (typically coffee roasters) with coffee producers, primarily in the U.S. and Canada, to help create sustainable relationships and promote an improved financial outlook for often disadvantaged producers. Despite the exceptional quality of coffee produced by many Honduran growers, the product often fails to fetch a fair price in the conventional market. Producers may also lack the resources to evaluate and market their coffee to international specialty buyers, and lack the capital needed in advance to afford more selectivity in their customer base.
On the other hand, buyers want unique flavors and quality beans, but may not be able to afford the seasonal and shipping delays in the process of conducting business with farmers directly.
Honduran Coffee Alliance helps connect these two parties through a few key initiatives:
Helping coffee producers implement quality control processes to evaluate and document the quality of their coffee.
Marketing Honduran coffee to specialty coffee buyers in the U.S. and Canada.
Managing the logistics of these transactions to allow buyers and producers to focus on their relationship.
“There’s a lot of quality steps in the conventional coffee process….but there’s another level to specialty coffee in terms of scoring well and then being able to maintain that year after year, so that’s kind of a big step with working with us.”
Sean and business partner Javier tasting and evaluating coffee
Honduran Coffee Alliance expanded with a Kiva loan
As Honduran Coffee Alliance looked to expand, they needed a capital solution to finance the gap in revenue that occurs after a roaster has agreed to buy from a producer, and before the coffee is ready for export.
“In the coffee industry, access to capital is one of the key challenges that doesn’t allow [coffee] producers to move out of this supply chain that doesn’t work for them.”
Sean’s colleague, Frederic, had encountered Kiva through previous work experience with Kiva Lending Partners and was also an existing Kiva lender, contributing to crowdfunded loans on kiva.org. He suggested to Sean that they apply for a loan on the platform. Fast forward to today, and Honduran Coffee Alliance is now paying back their second zero percent interest, zero fee Kiva loan. Through these two loans (the first disbursed in March 2023, the second disbursed in March 2024), the business was able to scale up their operations to support additional producers. In 2024 alone, Honduran Coffee Alliance connected around 110 Honduran coffee producers with buyers in the U.S. and Canada!
In 2024 alone, Honduran Coffee Alliance connected around 110 Honduran coffee producers with buyers in the U.S. and Canada.
When asked what he enjoys most about running this business, Sean immediately spoke of the impact Honduran Coffee Alliance has achieved on the lives of the coffee producers, and the powerful relationships they have fortified which benefit producers and buyers alike. In 2023, Sean and his colleagues even brought a group of roasters to Honduras to meet producers, sample coffee, and visit different production sites to see the process in action.
Honduran Coffee Alliance creates new pathways for accessing quality coffee markets — even to those that have previously given up on coffee altogether. Sean tells the story of Josue Ariel, a young coffee producer who left the trade behind and moved to the U.S. Eventually, Josue returned to Honduras and gave coffee production another try. He re-engaged with the community and started producing again, this time with excellent results. Josue’s high-quality coffee and new methods reignited his passion and enthusiasm for his profession. Enter Honduran Coffee Alliance, who connected Josue with roaster Hyperion in Michigan, and sparked a long-lasting partnership, currently in its third year.
Looking ahead
Sean admits the biggest challenge facing HCA is the overwhelming number of producers in Honduras who do not have access to favorable coffee markets — it is simply more than they can handle at present. This only motivates Sean further to scale up the business, and look for new, creative ways to get more producers involved and drive more revenue back to them.
Sean already knows that Honduran coffee is special. He knows the producers, has seen their lots, tasted their product, but it’s up to Honduran Coffee Alliance to help demonstrate this product’s unique value in the market, which is not always easy. Honduran coffee may not be top of mind for specialty coffee roasters already well-acquainted with specialty producers in Guatemala, Colombia, or East Africa, and perhaps used to associating Honduras with more conventional coffee.
Sean encourages buyers to simply give it a taste. The unique people, culture, work ethic, and exciting energy rippling through the Honduran coffee community manifests in a compelling variety of flavor profiles and attractive processing methods.
Kiva is proud to have helped fuel Sean and Honduran Coffee Alliance’s impactful work. Sean spoke of the benefits of the Kiva crowdfunding process, in helping engage his network with his business’ mission, and simultaneously generating enthusiasm for his fundraising campaign among his personal connections and the larger Kiva lending community. To anyone considering applying for a Kiva loan for their business, Sean advises “Just jump in and give it a shot!”
You can apply for a Kiva loan in the U.S. here, or lend to a Kiva U.S. borrower here.
