Alejandro Martínez | Mexico

The Martinez family has always lived in the Xalapa-Coatepec area in the state of Veracruz. The farm was established by his great- great-grandfather Antonio Martinez. The dream of Alejandro is to revive the coffee culture in Coatepec. He started to plant rust-resistant varieties always separated by plot so that he can compare the results of each plot both in productivity and quality. His coffee has been resulting very well lately, Marsellesa and Mundo Maya represent high quality with consistency for some years, and his first harvests of Anacafe and Obata represented good as well with more unique characters.

Alejandro Martínez Obata - Torque Coffees -

Farm Info

The Martinez family has always lived in the Xalapa-Coatepec area in the state of Veracruz. During the first years, they did all the milling within the farm, with machines of British, German, and American origin to achieve the best results in dry and wet milling.

The farm was established by his great- great-grandfather “Antonio Martinez”, then it was taken over by his great- grandfather “Juan E. Martinez”, his grandfather “Juan Jose Martinez” and his father “Juan Jose Martinez” before Alejandro took over it.

 

Coatepec, whose name is derived from a Nahuatl word which means “The hill of snakes”, is known as “the capital city of coffee” for its quality. Coatepec is one of the first states and cities where coffee cultivation was started and coffee arrived in Coatepec in 1808 through Cuba.

 Due to the rust disease and the proximity to Xalapa city, which is the capital city of Veracruz state, the production of coffee decreased significantly, and more and more young people are getting out of the coffee business.

 The dream of Alejandro is to revive the coffee culture in Coatepec. He started to plant rust-resistant varieties always separated by plot so that he can compare the results of each plot both in productivity and quality.

His coffee has been resulting very well lately, Marsellesa and Mundo Maya represent high quality with consistency for some years, and his first harvests of Anacafe and Obata represented good as well with more unique characters.

 

“I greatly value the field work that has been done since my great-great-grandparents. It has been an extraordinary legacy thay leaves a lot of satisfaction. I greatly appreciate all the people who are part of this process, the buyers for trusting our quality and coffee and the workers for sharing with us the passion we have for what we do and I firmly believe that when you love what you do, it will be reflected in the result of the work.”

 - Alejandro Martinez

 Coatepec was denominated as “Pueblo Magico” by the Secretary of Tourism in 2006 because of its colonial architecture and culture. It is located just next to Xalapa city and it just takes around 30 minutes by car from Xalapa city. The average altitude is 1,200 masl and it has a population of 93,911 (as of 2020). The most popular foods here are such as Tamales, Emmoladas, Gorditas, and others

 Coatepec is surrounded by the cloud forest and coffee farms. Orquid is a very common flower in Coatepec and you can find it everywhere. Traditional buildings of the Hispanic period are characterized by their typical balcony. Coffee is the main product of Coatepec and there is a museum of coffee as well as coffee farms that offer tours to a farm to show all about coffee with accommodation for those who want to experience staying in a coffee farm.

New Transport for Coffee Pickers

Not only because picker availability is becoming an issue but also as a company Alejandro works with social responsibility toward employees and the community surrounding the farms, paying better wages than his competition. Last year, as a part of the social responsibility, he purchased a new truck for the workers. It can get cold in Coatepec during the harvest season and it rains a lot during the rainy season. This protects workers in those situations.

 Commonly, pickers are paid by the quantity they pick per day. In the farms of Alejandro, he never mix varieties and pickers prefer working in his farms because the maturation tends to be homogeneous because of the separation as well as his treatment and attitude toward workers. At the same time, it also enables workers to pick only cherries fully ripened and it, for sure, improves the quality of his coffee.

 

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Country: Mexico
Region: Coatepec, Veracruz
Farm: Finca San Jose
Varietal: Marsellesa, Mundo Maya, Anacafe 14, Obata, H1
Altitude: 1,200-1300 MASL
Exporter: CARI Coffee
Importer: Atlantic Specialty