Together with Finca Irlanda, we started working with Belco in 2018. Our story began after meeting Angel Barrera at the Amsterdam Coffee Festival. But I can assure you that the story of the farm goes back much further than that!

I am part of the fourth generation of coffee farmers in the family. The beginnings of Finca Irlanda trace back to my great-grandfather, back in the sixties. Our farm is the first coffee farm to obtain Demeter certification!

In the coffee industry, we can say that we are pioneers in biodynamics. Initially, coffee was not included in the list of products that could be Demeter certified. It has been since the 1960s, thanks to the work of my great-grandfather and grandfather at Finca Irlanda.

I won't lie to you; I find the place very beautiful. The farm is less than 2 hours from the city of Tapachula, in southern Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean side.

Finca Irlanda is surrounded by traditional coffee farms. The difference in vegetation between the two models is striking. This makes the farm even more interesting to visit, as you can easily compare a traditional agricultural model with ours, based on biodynamic principles, and from which the coffee from Finca Irlanda comes.

That's actually what I would like to show someone who has never been there: everything that is in place for 100% natural soil work, how we create our compost preparations... Everything that has made, and continues to make, Finca Irlanda a pioneering biodynamic farm.

We have several permanent workers who work with us during the harvest and also outside of that period. My father, Walter Peters, spends a lot of time there and is very involved in the production aspect of the farm.

The farm is divided into 5 sections, each with its own manager. In total, 50 families live around the farm and work with us. And, of course, seasonal workers join us for the harvest at the end of the year.

The majority come from Guatemala. We are very close to the Guatemala border. Many arrive at the farm around October and leave around December before returning in January.

But it's increasingly difficult to get them to work at the farm and stay for the entire harvest. In the past, we easily hired 300 seasonal workers. If there are 200 today, we consider ourselves lucky.

The consequence of all this is having to restrict the production space to ensure that the coffee that grows will be well harvested.

Yes, we still have a strong desire to practice and promote this way of seeing and doing agriculture. It's the DNA of Finca Irlanda. Obviously, we are positioned in a niche, but we still believe in it.

With our difficulties in recruiting seasonal workers, I have to mention our production limits. Our space is limited, and biodynamics requires a significant effort. That's why it's important for us to diversify. On the farm, we also produce honey and cacao, among other products.

It is indeed another way to diversify our production. But for us, the production of cascara is still relatively minor. It's a project that started 3 years ago. When Arnaud Causse, who is the Director of Transition at Belco, visited us, he was interested in our cascara, natural and washed, even though it is produced in very small quantities.

To be honest, today, I don't know to what extent cascara attracts an audience. All I know is that our cascara comes from our finest coffee cherries. The rest continues to enrich our compost so that the soil of Finca Irlanda remains healthy for as long as possible.