- Coffee with
Had I done anything differently, I would not be where I am now.
Barbara Beiertz
He is convinced of biodynamics, considers himself “just” a part of a wonderful family business, and is “the quality man” of La Chacra D’dago. Cesar Marin. With him, I talked about family business, his daily life, and his motivation. And what it takes to cultivate such an outrageously delicious coffee:
A lot of patience, passion, dourness…
B: Cesar, what does biodynamic cultivation mean to you?
C: I think, it is in fact a beautiful art: To use all elements, that nature provides us with, in harmony. Microorganisms, plants, wind, rain, sun – to acknowledge all of this as whole. Our animals also play an important role. Their feed grows on our farm, they are part of our everyday life. Same as composting, the production and the output of our biodynamic preparations. That way we constantly improve the quality of our soil.
At La Chacra D’dago we have been working with these cycles of nature for 15 years. I vividly experienced the endless patience and passion my father has for this lifestyle – and it is a holistic, self-sustaining, and maintaining way of life.
I started out with hosting seminars about coffee tasting, preparation, and storage – in order to holistically promote the idea of high-quality organic coffee without chemicals to our neighbors, our community. Quality can only be achieved with ecology – that was and is my credo.
Nowadays, I spend most of my time at La Chacra D’Dago – I am in charge of the quality management and logistics. We are a family business, everyone has their role.
B: What makes this family business so special?
C: To me, it is extremely motivating to work with and for my family. I can’t even imagine doing this without my brothers or parents. Hector, my older brother, manages the production. My younger brother takes care of the communication, and I am in charge of the quality management – we are a perfect team. Within the 15 years of the existence of La Chacra D’dago there is one thing I’ve learned: On the one hand, how businesses operate and on the other hand, that acting in concert as a family is the key to success.
B: When you look back: Is there anything you would have done differently?
C: Not one thing. Had I done anything differently, I would not be where I am now. Living in harmony with nature, the biodynamic agriculture, the philosophy behind it and being able live all of this together with the whole family – that is the best thing.
B: And the hardest?
C: The climate change. The effects that we are struggling with and that we constantly need to adapt to. No matter if it is coffee, vegetables or fruit, the animals… that is really tough.
B: What does it take in the future to balance ecology and economy?
C: I am very convinced of “biodynamics”, every day I experience how it functions. But I also believe it would help if we worked closer together with universities and research. If science supported biodynamics with facts. We are planning on establishing a new biodynamic farm, in order to push even more projects forward, and to increase the impact of biodynamics – When humans, animals, and plants interconnect, that is real harmony. And Life.
B: There is no better way to put it – Cesar, thank you so much for your time.
