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Hand-picking coffee at Sabio Coffee, Nicaragua.

Three generations on this land

THREE GENERATIONS

One family, three generations on this land

Sabio is the #1 independent direct trade specialty coffee producer and exporter in Nicaragua — no grower-owned operation matches our scale. Family-run since the first trees went in the ground, each generation has added something: the land, the lab, and now direct trade.

The Sabio Coffee slopes across the valley, Nicaragua.
The land, worked by the same family for three generations
  1. First generation · 1940s Grandfather Ferrufino

    Started the farm in the 1940s, planting the first trees on the slopes above Matagalpa.

  2. Second generation · 1970s Enrique Sr.

    Took over the family operation in the 1970s. Built the processing lab and put Sabio's coffee on the specialty map.

  3. Third generation · today Enrique Jr.

    Runs the operation now: cloudforest farms, one lab, direct trade, no broker between the soil and your roastery.

The Güegüense, and the name

The Güegüense is the oldest secular theater in the Americas, a Nicaraguan folk play older than the country itself. Its main character is a wise merchant, a sabio, who outwits authority through patience and craft.

Our mark comes from that play. We drew the festival's colors and the geometry of El Macho Ratón, its trickster mule, down into a single head. The name carries the same wit, kept in the family for three generations on this land.

How the mark came to be

  1. The mask The mask El Macho Ratón, the trickster mule
  2. The geometry The geometry Its colors and forms, abstracted
  3. The mark The mark The mule's head, in four colors
Dancers in Güegüense masks and costumes during a street procession, Nicaragua.
The Güegüense danced in the streets — the mask that became our logo.

THE TEAM

The people behind the lots

A small team runs the farms, the lab, and the trade. (Roles and bios below are placeholders to confirm with Enrique.)

  • Enrique

    Third generation · owner

    Enrique

    Runs Sabio today. Sells direct to roasters, no broker in between, and keeps the family's name on every lot.

  • Zuzana

    Operations

    Zuzana

    Keeps the operation moving across our cloudforest farms and a harvest crew of more than a thousand.

  • Navarrete

    Production

    Navarrete

    Oversees production and quality from the trees through the lab.

Women of the Cooperativa de Mujeres tossing drying coffee on the patio at Sabio Coffee, Nicaragua.

The women's cooperative on the drying patio

COMMUNITY

Cooperativa de Mujeres

We finance and buy from a fifty-woman organic cooperative on one of the farms. They run their own production and we pay a premium for it. It is one part of the operation, and the part we are proudest of.

  • COOPERATIVE 50 women
  • CERTIFICATION Organic
  • PRICING Premium above market
High-elevation Sabio Coffee slopes at dawn, Nicaragua.

The high-elevation slopes at dawn

THE FARMS

Cloudforest farms, three regions

We farm cloudforest properties across Jinotega, Matagalpa, and Nueva Segovia, between 1,200 and 1,650 meters. Each farm has its own soil, shade, and microclimate, which is why a single harvest can give a roaster several distinct profiles.

Everything is processed at our own lab. Drying patios, raised beds for honey and natural lots, and a cupping room where we score every microlot before it ships.

  • REGIONS Jinotega, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia
  • ELEVATION 1,200 to 1,650 masl
  • PROCESSING Washed, Honey, Natural

WHERE IT GROWS

The farm zone, in relief

A contour map of the Matagalpa highlands where Sabio grows, drawn from satellite elevation data. Hover or tap a farm to see what it grows.

Matagalpa

La Aurora

The home farm, pinned from its real coordinates.

Elevation
1,350 masl
Varieties
Parainema
Harvest
December–March
See this farm's lots