Bay Area Coffee Company Puts Colombian Growers Front And Center
From: mercurynews.com
Maria Jose Palacio grew up in Colombia’s coffee region, the fifth generation in a family of coffee growers.
She would seek her fortune away from the steep hills, the back-breaking work and the persistent poverty to become a field designer for such prestigious fashion lines as Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang and Maria Cornejo in New York City.
However, the memories of the family plantation in Quindio, the scent like jasmine wafting off plantations in full bloom, the brilliant red of the cherries when the coffee beans were perfect for picking, all pulled at her, whispering to her to come home.
She also knew of the struggle her family and scores of other small, independent coffee growers endure, so if she returned to the coffee industry, she decided, it would be on different terms.
