{"id":41363,"date":"2024-09-25T13:35:48","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T17:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=41363"},"modified":"2024-09-25T13:35:49","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T17:35:49","slug":"mayan-coffee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/","title":{"rendered":"Hotelie Markets Coffee from Her Rural Village in Guatemala"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Indigenous student aims to help her parents and neighbors command a better price for their beans<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story was condensed from <\/em>a feature<\/em><\/a> in the <\/em>Cornell Chronicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Laura Reiley<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martina Pablo Pablo \u201926 started picking coffee beans when she was five years old, on her father\u2019s small plot of land in a remote area in Guatemala. Although her home, in the mountains of Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, has a unique microclimate that yields exceptional coffee, three-quarters of the Mam Maya people in the area suffer from poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her parents and neighbors struggle to make ends meet as subsistence farmers, even as global coffee prices have risen 65% since the beginning of 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pablo Pablo, who is studying hotel administration in the Nolan School, is hoping to change that. She\u2019s the creator and owner of Martina\u2019s Mayan Coffee<\/a>, which sells coffee directly from her family farm in Todos Santos in Huehuetenango.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy hope is to empower Indigenous farmers,\u201d she says. \u201cInequality there is so bad. They have no power to negotiate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

My hope is to empower Indigenous farmers. Inequality there is so bad. They have no power to negotiate.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Her fledgling business honors the complex experiences of those who grow and harvest the coffee in her home country, and leverages the newfound entrepreneurial and marketing chops she has honed in the classroom and via mentoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe wants to shed light on the story of where she came from and address inequity in order to provide some social good,\u201d says Aaron Adalja<\/a>, an assistant professor in the Nolan Hotel School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adalja, who taught Pablo Pablo\u2019s food and beverage management class, has guided her in developing marketing materials to showcase her product, as well as in leveraging connections she has made via Cornell.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Three<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the challenges with the industry is the coffee changes hands so many times and many of the value-added processes typically happen outside the country in which the coffee is grown,\u201d he says. \u201cNobody who is growing that coffee has a concept of what the value of that final product really is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pablo Pablo\u2019s journey from the mountains of Sierra de los Cuchumatanes to Ithaca has been long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After taking the bus to the U.S. border at age 17 with someone from her village, she says, she sought asylum and spent two months in a detention center in Texas before being released into the custody of a brother in Oakland, CA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI left home because there is so much poverty; we were starving,\u201d she says. \u201cGirls routinely get married at 15 or 16 and have children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, Pablo Pablo received a scholarship to a private high school in Oakland before being awarded a full scholarship to Cornell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first time I went to a Starbucks, I was shocked,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI got a mocha, which was delicious\u2014and when I found out it was $6, I was like, \u2018Oh my goodness.\u2019 My parents had been paid so little.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The first time I went to a Starbucks, I was shocked.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Her business has grown by incremental steps. She received support from Adalja and wine professor Cheryl Stanley \u201900<\/a>, a senior lecturer in the Nolan School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m so excited for her,\u201d Stanley says, \u201cbut any importing of an agricultural product is difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, the venture is small: Pablo Pablo is currently selling only 200 bags of coffee directly to consumers. But there\u2019s room for expansion, Stanley says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe coffee is absolutely amazing, with sweet flavors reminiscent of a caramel pear muffin,\u201d she says. \u201cIt also has a little bit of chocolate to it, with great balance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photos by Ryan Young \/ Cornell University.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published September 25, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indigenous student aims to help her parents and neighbors command a better price for their beans<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":41360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"alumni_hub_syml_posts":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[223],"tags":[],"cornell_year_post":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-41363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-students"],"yoast_head":"\nHotelie Markets Coffee from Her Rural Village in Guatemala - Cornellians | Cornell University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Indigenous student aims to help her parents and neighbors command a better price for their beans\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hotelie Markets Coffee from Her Rural Village in Guatemala - Cornellians | Cornell University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Indigenous student aims to help her parents and neighbors command a better price for their beans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cornellians | Cornell University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Cornellians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-09-25T17:35:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-25T17:35:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/2024_1391_RY_0097.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beth Saulnier\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@WeCornellians\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@WeCornellians\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Beth Saulnier\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/mayan-coffee\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/mayan-coffee\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Beth Saulnier\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100\"},\"headline\":\"Hotelie Markets Coffee from Her Rural Village in Guatemala\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-25T17:35:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-25T17:35:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/mayan-coffee\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":617,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/mayan-coffee\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/2024_1391_RY_0097.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Students\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/mayan-coffee\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/mayan-coffee\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/mayan-coffee\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hotelie Markets Coffee from Her Rural Village in Guatemala - Cornellians | Cornell University\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/mayan-coffee\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/mayan-coffee\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/2024_1391_RY_0097.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-25T17:35:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-25T17:35:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100\"},\"description\":\"Indigenous student aims to help her parents and neighbors command a better price for their beans\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/mayan-coffee\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/mayan-coffee\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/mayan-coffee\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/2024_1391_RY_0097.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/2024_1391_RY_0097.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Martina Pablo Pablo poses for a portrait in the Beck Center Atrium with her bags of her coffee.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/mayan-coffee\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hotelie Markets Coffee from Her Rural Village in Guatemala\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cornellians | Cornell University\",\"description\":\"Cornell's alumni publication\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100\",\"name\":\"Beth Saulnier\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Beth Saulnier\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/author\\\/ess8\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hotelie Markets Coffee from Her Rural Village in Guatemala - Cornellians | Cornell University","description":"Indigenous student aims to help her parents and neighbors command a better price for their beans","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hotelie Markets Coffee from Her Rural Village in Guatemala - Cornellians | Cornell University","og_description":"Indigenous student aims to help her parents and neighbors command a better price for their beans","og_url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/","og_site_name":"Cornellians | Cornell University","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Cornellians","article_published_time":"2024-09-25T17:35:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-09-25T17:35:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/2024_1391_RY_0097.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beth Saulnier","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@WeCornellians","twitter_site":"@WeCornellians","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beth Saulnier","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/"},"author":{"name":"Beth Saulnier","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#\/schema\/person\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100"},"headline":"Hotelie Markets Coffee from Her Rural Village in Guatemala","datePublished":"2024-09-25T17:35:48+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-25T17:35:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/"},"wordCount":617,"commentCount":2,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/2024_1391_RY_0097.jpg","articleSection":["Students"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/","url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/","name":"Hotelie Markets Coffee from Her Rural Village in Guatemala - Cornellians | Cornell University","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/2024_1391_RY_0097.jpg","datePublished":"2024-09-25T17:35:48+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-25T17:35:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#\/schema\/person\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100"},"description":"Indigenous student aims to help her parents and neighbors command a better price for their beans","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/2024_1391_RY_0097.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/2024_1391_RY_0097.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"Martina Pablo Pablo poses for a portrait in the Beck Center Atrium with her bags of her coffee."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/mayan-coffee\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hotelie Markets Coffee from Her Rural Village in Guatemala"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#website","url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/","name":"Cornellians | Cornell University","description":"Cornell's alumni publication","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#\/schema\/person\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100","name":"Beth Saulnier","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Beth Saulnier"},"url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/author\/ess8\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET","POST","PUT","PATCH","DELETE"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41363"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41380,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41363\/revisions\/41380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41363"},{"taxonomy":"cornell_year_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cornell_year_post?post=41363"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=41363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}