We don’t “discover” great coffee, we grow it!
Born and raised in the world of coffee production. We have lived and worked under coffee farming conditions for generations in Guatemala and Honduras. We believe in dismantling the conception that farmworkers are not professionals and are expendable. We are putting an end to the ongoing cycle of land grabbing by corporate hands, and back into the hands of small working farmers. Our vertically integrated ‘cultivo to cup’ or ‘cultivation to cup’ business model seeks to end exploitative intermediaries within the current supply chains in the coffee industry.
Proud to be Chicago’s first family farm-owned and operated coffee roaster. Anticonquista Café is a sustainability-conscious, woman and immigrant business led by Chicago-based couple Lauren Reese and Elmer Fajardo Pacheco. We focus on closing the gap between coffee farmers in Central America and U.S. consumers. We advance farmers to the forefront of the industry: we are the farmers who harvest, roast and brew your coffee.
Elmer Fajardo, Co-Owner & Co-founder of Anticonquista Café in front of his farm Finca El Pinal, Honduras, 2022.
Family
Anticonquista Café is imported from our family farm going back generations located within the heart of the remote mountains on the southeastern border of Chiquimula, Guatemala and southwestern border of Ocotepeque, Honduras.
Each family member plays an essential role in our business operations. The collective hard work, sweat and love is interwoven from the physical labor in the fields, hours of preparing tortillas over the comal, transportation, bookkeeping, processing the coffee to raising and teaching our future generation.
Workers
“The coffee industry lacks a deep understanding of where farmers come from, what their working conditions are like, or how they are paid”.
-Specialty Coffee Association of America
These kinds of knowledge gaps pose serious risks to specialty coffee companies, and it is our mission to close these gaps between coffee farmers in Central America to U.S. consumers.
Being a family farm-owned and operated business is what uniquely differentiates us from other coffee roasters in Chicago.
We work in the fields alongside workers and have firsthand knowledge and awareness of working conditions. This is why we advocate for better working conditions, living wages, in addition to providing free meals and lodging for our workers.
Chicago Team
Lauren
Owner
Imports & Roaster
Elmer
Owner
Coffee Farmer & Roaster
Based in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, together Lauren and Elmer organize the importing, roasting, and brewing of our coffee and operate our coffee-bike!
Aldea Valle de Jesús Team
Lilian Janeth
Owner
Coffee Farmer & Quality Control Manager
Emilio
Owner
Coffee Farmer & Farm Production Coordinator
Melvin
Owner
Coffee Farmer & Farm Logistics Coordinator
In addition to bookkeeping, Lilian Janeth manages all QC on our green coffee before export, and takes care of the farm’s cows.
Besides overseeing the coffee harvest and production, Emilio also harvests our bananas every 15 days with help from Melvin.
A part from arranging transportation of our products within Central America, Melvin is our mechanic.