I am the third generation in coffee production. I have been given the legacy to continue with passion and deeply rooted family tradition of coffee farming while applying environmental sustainability.
Our maternal grandfather, Dr. Emilio Gutiérrez, was the first generation. He started the coffee plantation in 1945, he was one of the pioneers of the coffee business in Dipilto, and he started his own dry mill around 1952 to 1954 with the name Beneficio Santa Lucía. Nowadays, I manage Santa Lucía Mill, using the same mill he brought from London, and by mule from the port to Ocotal. The dry mill process allows me to take care of the quality of the coffee bean.
The second generation is my father Joaquín Augusto Lovo. He bought the farm Bella Aurora in 1956 and started planting coffee in 1957 in adverse road conditions to the point where he had to finish the final two miles of commute to the farm by riding horses, and he carried down the harvest using mules. In 1978, he started expanding by buying another farm, La Pradera, but due to the intensified civil war during the 80's he faced tremendous difficulties, and that drastically reduced productivity in both farms.
The third generation is myself, Luis Joaquín Lovo, and my brother, David A. Lovo. I still remember when I was a kid walking to the farm uphill and through a swamp road with a beautiful landscape. During that time there was no road for vehicle. The only way to get to the farm was walking or by horse.
In 1991 after the war was over, our father, who is still alive at 98 years old, passed the farms' ownership to my brother and to me. Since then, our commitment to coffee farming, inherited from our father, started with even greater effort and passion. Year by year, we have been improving the quality in the cup and heavily investing in the coffee plantations, and their infrastructure with a strong commitment on environmental sustainability. As a result, we have been in the specialty coffee market for over ten years exporting to USA, Australia, Canada, and United Kingdom. Also we have being participating in COE (The Cup of Excellent) finishing several times among the winning farms.
Luis Joaquín Lovo G.
