Today we’d like to introduce you to Josely Yuko.
Josely, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up one of four daughters to Diego Chavarria, a coffee farmer in the Matagalpa region of Nicaragua. His dad was the coffee farmer on El Dorado (the name of our family farm) as was his dad and the father before him. My father grew up poor by world standards – living off the fruit grown on the trees providing shade for the coffee plants, rice and beans grown on the lower altitude portions of the farm. But it was a great childhood because he also grew up alongside the 100 families and their children who lived on the farm year round. It was a great community to be raised in and many of those families are still living on the farm – just the new generations coming in and taking the place of the older.
In the 80’s a revolution broke out in Nicaragua, with the anti-government activists largely coming out of the rural coffee region. Things got pretty dangerous so my family fled to the U.S. and ultimately was granted political asylum in Canada. We loved Canada and spent 9 years in Kelowna where my mom cleaned houses and my dad worked picking fruit and reforestation.
My grandpa passed away in 1995 and so my dad had no choice but to return to Nicaragua to take over operations of the family farm and business. In the early 2000’s the global coffee crisis hit and local coffee prices dropped from over $1.50/lbs to around $.30 per pound. In an agricultural business where one crop is produced a year and there are significant operating costs year round, every farmer but the wealthy landowner had bank debt to help survive. When prices collapsed banks called the notes due and all of these farmers lost the farms that had been in their families for generations.
This was an incredibly difficult time for our town which is the largest coffee producing region for the largest exported crop in the country. I remember so many nights sitting with my family praying for God’s hand in delivering our next meal. Through some negotiation, my dad was able to stay on as the farm manager but was no longer the owner. He worked like this for ten years and when the bank that held the note finally sold the farm debt to another bank, my dad was able to step in and regain ownership of the farm and assume the debt to the bank.
During the 70’s our family hosted missionaries on the farm who were eventually kicked out of the country by the socialist president at the time. Decades later these same missionaries met an Ohio-based coffee roaster who was looking to break the typical model and buy his coffee directly from the farmer. He was put in touch with our family and after overcoming a lot of challenges and roadblocks my dad was able to export his first direct trade container in 2007. This man was able to pay my dad better than fair-trade prices for his coffee and bypass the multiple layers of brokers and middlemen.
I walked this entire journey and eventually made my way with my husband to Houston in 2011. When we got here he really wanted to start a coffee company to work with my dad and provide the coffee roasting side of the business to our story. For me, the story was too close and too painful and I honestly didn’t want anything to do with it.
Eventually, I realized that it was a great opportunity to continue to help my family while also creating an avenue to reach into the lives of other farmers and their families around the world and provide the same kind of blessing. So we started Mueva Coffee (where Mueva is from the Spanish verb – mover – to move) with the idea of creating a movement in coffee that would change farmer’s lives around the world and reward them for the back-breaking work they do to bring a cup of coffee to the world.
We now operate at 1100 Elder alongside a coffee shop called Paper Co. Cafe and import with several other partners from countries all over the world. So in short, I am the daughter of a coffee grower, first-generation coffee roaster, wife and mother.
MuevaCoffee is not just a movement, it’s family. It’s our story and many coffee growers’ story.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We officially launched Mueva in 2012. I knew the coffee growing side. I knew the care and detail and pain and struggles coffee growers and their workers go through, but I was now doing coffee in a world that mostly cared about the newest trend in coffee varietal and processing method, and not the stories behind each bean. Coffee is people, not just a commodity. I believe that to my core, but unfortunately, that is easily lost in a consumer world that likes to highlight trends and who is more aesthetically pleasing than the other.
Less than a year after launching I became a mom. Our son Diego is actually named after my dad. Balancing the business and figuring out what that meant as a mom was challenging, but I can say the challenge of staying true to who we are and where we come from, against the newest coffee trend, is the greatest and most constant challenge. To us, coffee is family, coffee is a connection, coffee is stories, coffee is people.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about MuevaCoffee – what should we know?
We are coffee roasters. Because of my story and background, we aim at working directly with coffee growers around the world. On rotation/throughout the year, we have about 25 coffee offered. We are known mainly for our direct relationship with our growers.
I’m proud to represent the coffee growers who’s coffee I roast and do my best to highlight their uniquenesses and hard work. I am also proud of the close relationships I have with all of my accounts. They are all like one family, and they share our desire to make our cups of coffee about people and deeper connections.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My husband and my son who have graciously, patiently worked alongside of me. I would not be doing this without Chris (my husband) paving the way and picking my pieces up every single time. Every single one of my accounts. We have each other’s backs.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1100 Elder St Houston TX 77007
- Website: www.muevacoffee.com
- Email: [email protected]
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