What Does Roasting at Source Mean?
Value Retention
By roasting in Honduras, more of the product's final value stays in the producing economy.
Quality & Freshness
Coffee roasted near the farm translates to fresher flavor and deeper terroir expression in every bag.
Transparency and Control
Close oversight from harvest through roast to shipment ensures purity and quality.
From Producer to Cup. A Fair, Transparent Chain
Fair Chain Philosophy
Explain that value addition is done in origin vs. exporting green beans only.
Economic Impact
Share that most coffee revenue globally does not remain in origin -and Spirit Origin reverses this.
Community Stability
Jobs in roasting, processing, lab testing, packaging, shipping; revenue shared with producers.
Education & Knowledge Share
Experience labs and cupping sessions deepen connection between growers, roasters, and consumers.
92%
of coffee revenue kept in origin vs. industry average
112
jobs created by roasting at source
14
of producer partners
Meet Our Founders
KATHYA IRIAS
Born and raised in Honduras, I grew up connected to the land, learning planting and harvesting alongside my parents. More importantly, I learned to respect and serve those who work it. Agronomy is one of the most demanding and undervalued professions in my country, a reality I came to understand while sharing home-grown coffee with local farmers and listening to the challenges they faced.Twenty years later, I founded Spirit Origin Coffee to use my business experience to support small-scale farmers—experts who have spent generations nurturing coffee’s purest essence. By sharing the vitality in these beans with the world, we can fairly return value to the communities that produce them.Why coffee? Because more than 20% of Honduras’s population depends on it—over 100,000 families whose quality of life can be improved through a more sustainable industry.
“From Honduran soil to your cup, my purpose is to share coffee in a way that gives back to the people who grow it.”
PAUL GROMEK
Born and raised in Honduras, I grew up connected to the land, learning planting and harvesting alongside my parents. More importantly, I learned to respect and serve those who work it. Agronomy is one of the most demanding and undervalued professions in my country, a reality I came to understand while sharing home-grown coffee with local farmers and listening to the challenges they faced.Twenty years later, I founded Spirit Origin Coffee to use my business experience to support small-scale farmers—experts who have spent generations nurturing coffee’s purest essence. By sharing the vitality in these beans with the world, we can fairly return value to the communities that produce them.Why coffee? Because more than 20% of Honduras’s population depends on it—over 100,000 families whose quality of life can be improved through a more sustainable industry.
“From Honduran soil to your cup, my purpose is to share coffee in a way that gives back to the people who grow it.”
Our Story
OUR STORY
Shifting wealth and impacting the livelihood of all coffee growers in Honduras.
OUR PURPOSE
Only 10% of all revenue from coffee trade stays in Honduras, 6th largest coffee producing country with almost 74% poverty. With 100,000 families directly living off the coffee production, the change is needed.
The purpose of Spirit Animal Coffee is to shift wealth and impact the livelihood of all coffee growers, by moving the entire supply chain into Honduras.
WELCOME TO THE SPIRIT ANIMAL COFFEE REVOLUTION
By owning the entire vertical integration of the supply chain, we are able to remove any intermediaries from the equation and create new jobs, give back and benefit local communities in Honduras. We are on a mission to provide more economic stability for coffee growers and elevate the profile of Honduran coffee globally.
At Spirit Animal, we process, roast all our coffee locally, package it, and then ship it worldwide. We share the revenue stream directly with coffee producers and use the proceeds to spread the knowledge about Honduran coffee to the world.
EXPERIENCE THE FULL JOURNEY
Imagine sitting in a cozy café, sipping on your favorite coffee while reading a book. Now imagine that same moment but with an event space attached—the perfect spot for meetings and learning more about the world of sustainable coffee.
At our Experience Labs, our goal is to provide you not only great coffee – we do that, too – but also give you access into this world through events like cupping labs & coffee tastings where experts teach you how the roast profile, the brewing method, and the cup score affect the final story in your cup.
BECOME PART OF THE VIRTUOUS CYCLE
As part of our family, you help contribute directly towards improving the livelihoods of the coffee growers and their communities.
By providing an opportunity not only to earn more revenue but also to learn how valuable this crop truly can be.
MEET THE FOUNDERS
KATHYA IRIAS
Born and raised in Honduras, I grew up with a love for the land and all it produces. Digging my feet into the soil and feeling the life it gives, I learned about planting and harvesting as I accompanied my parents.
But my most important lesson was to serve and respect everyone who works the land, regardless of social status or role. Agronomy was, and continues to be, one of the most demanding and poorly-paid professions in my country. I'll never forget what it was like to sit down with farmers and have a home-grown cup of coffee. We chatted about their living conditions and the challenges they faced when growing coffee on their own land, and about how terribly undervalued café was on the local market. And with each deliciously pure sip, paradoxically nurtured with care and strong against socio-economic odds, I discovered my passion: to share my country’s coffee as inspiration for reciprocity and respect.
Today, twenty years later, I’ve created Spirit Animal Coffee to leverage my business background towards improving the lives of small-scale farmers. They are already century-long experts in nurturing coffee’s best essence; now, I hope to share with the world the vitality sipped in these beans, so that it may then be fairly cycled back to the hardworking communities that produce them.
Why coffee? Because I love both the process and result: an invigorating cup of coffee. But most importantly, because more than 20% of my country’s population makes its living from the coffee industry. That's more than 100,000 families that can improve their quality of life and ensure a more sustainable future.
Now, Spirit Animal coffee invites you to drink with purpose, while you discover the inspiration of sipping in the moment. Let’s celebrate with a true cup of coffee.
PAUL GROMEK
Seeking a new challenge and the opportunity to create a passion-driven business, I started on a new path. Ever since I can remember, I’ve always appreciated a good cup of coffee; while visiting Honduras, I was amazed and inspired by the quality of their café.
I spent the next few years travelling all over Latin America around coffee farms, learning about the industry and trying to figure out what makes the perfect cup. I realized that there is a huge potential to share the pure taste of café through specialty coffee -- still mostly unknown in to western market.
This is when I decided to create a coffee company that delivers only the best and most pure beans. During one of my travels with my friend Kathya, we decided to join forces to deliver high-end specialty coffee at affordable prices.
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