From our farms to your cup – that’s the slogan of the new Lenca Coffee Roasters at 11973 Buchanan Trail East in Waynesboro.
Located in the former M&T Bank, the drive-through only business will hold a soft opening Monday, July 31, offering free cups of coffee and officially open Aug. 1. Hours are Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Our coffee is fresh roasted, as fresh as you can get,” according to owner Emilio Garcia of Chambersburg. “Our slogan – from our farms to your cup – that’s what makes us different from everybody else, and we want to send that message to the customer.”
Garcia is a fourth generation coffee farmer from the region of Macala in Honduras. “I grew up there in a family growing coffee. My great-grandfather started in 1915,” added Garcia, who came to the United States in 1999 to work in the apple orchards in Adams County.
“Hurricane Mitch destroyed a lot of my country in 1998 and I had the opportunity to come here and work in the agricultural program, so I could help the farmers in Honduras, help families back home recover.” Hurricane Mitch caused 11,374 fatalities in Central America, including approximately 7,000 in Honduras.
“I stayed, met my wife, Amy, and we have a son, Emilio Richard, 19,” added Garcia. “The name Lenca comes from our indigenous roots in Honduras, the Lenca people.
Garcia is retiring from his construction business to start Lenca Coffee Roasters. In 2013, he began importing coffee from his family and neighbors in Honduras. “My main goal was to find roasters who would like to buy my coffee. There was a roaster in Chambersburg who started buying my coffee. Later on, I learned to roast coffee (he’s been roasting coffee for seven years) and then the opportunity came to buy his roasting business, Abednego Coffee Roaster. We still have the name, except now it’s under Lenca Coffee Roasters.”
Until now, Lenca coffee was only available online, at lencacoffeeroasters.com
“I also sold wholesale to coffee shops, supermarkets and specialty markets, but my dream was to go directly to the consumer to sell a cup of coffee.” With the opening of his new business, that will become a reality. “Our roaster is running,” he added.
“The main thing is that when you buy our coffee, you buy directly from farmers, our neighbors around the world in Columbia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Guatemala and Honduras. You aren’t just buying a coffee, but a coffee with historic purpose and value, to help the farmers and families where the coffee comes from. Ten cents of each cup goes back to the community where the coffee is coming from.”
Lenca Coffee is available in light roast, medium dark and dark, with no artificial flavors, in packages of 12 ounces, 2 pounds or 5 pounds. “You can order it online or pick it up at our drive-through,” Lenca noted. Cups of coffee will be offered in 12 ounce and 16 ounce sizes at the store.
“I’d like people to understand that not all coffee tastes the same. Coffee tastes different depending on the region where it’s grown. Our coffee is better than fair trade. We call it direct trade or specialty. You’ll notice the difference.”
