Francisco Roberto Moran was born 1964 in the community of San Marcos de Ocotepeque in Honduras. He inherited his expertise & passion for growing coffee from his father Eulalio Moran, who dedicated his life to coffee production since 1950.
Francisco’s father purchased a small property called Finca La Pedrera (Rocky Land Farm) in 1955 and began growing Pacas and Bourbón varietals on that land. He then purchased another property called The Deep Creek (Finca El Arroyo Profundo), where Francisco first began growing his own coffee. After his father passed, Francisco continued investing in more land to grow coffee, including Finca San Francisco, which is the farm that produces the coffee that Carrboro Coffee Roasters sources from Francisco.
We first met Francisco Moran through the Honduras Cup of Excellence, then we met with him to see if he would be willing to sell me all of his crop. It is that good!
Francisco’s farms are located in and near lands protected by the ASOCIACIÓN ECOLÓGICA DE SAN MARCOS DE OCOTEPEQUE (AESMO), a public-private partnership established in 1990 to focus on conservation and sustainable management of water, biodiversity and soil, contributing to the improvement of the quality of life of the population. This is why Francisco does not use chemicals at his farms.
“On our farms there are variety of animals and water springs that come from the heart of the mountain, and we do our best effort to care for them,” Francisco explains.
The Catholic church in Francisco’s community taught farmers how to produce organic fertilizers such as Bocachi, chicken & cattle manure, coffee pulp, and other organic compost to strengthen their crops. He also was taught how to prepare non-toxic foliar nutrients and organic insecticides that positively impact the health of the coffee trees and the overall environment.
Francisco hand-selects his pickers carefully and transports the cherries on horse back to the mill. He then dries the seeds in solar dryers using energy from the sun.
We’re proud to support Francisco and his neighboring producers as they contribute to strengthening the resilience of the local population and the health of the environment.
