Café Juan Ana is a cooperative of approximately seventy families committed to producing the highest quality coffee. As small producers, each family owns from one to ten thirty-two by thirty-two meter plots which annually produce ten to fifteen quintales each (one quintal weighs one hundred pounds).

     The cooperative, administrated by the parish, is named after John and Ann Schaffer, Father Greg’s father and mother.

     Though many families in the region grow coffee, Juan Ana remains a small organization. The parish believes that small, concentrated efforts such as this are more effective than larger ventures. Also, becoming too large could threaten commercial coffee purchasers; the cooperative cannot impede the business of these large, politically powerful corporations or it may run the risk the losing its export license.

     The Lake Atitlán region has the conditions necessary for growing excellent coffee: altitude, soil conditions, and climate conditions.

     Highest quality coffee must be grown over 5000 feet, eliminating imperfections and pests found at lower altitudes. Soil in the Lake Atitlán area is deep, loose, dark, and organically rich volcanic ash, offering natural nutrients as well as excellent water drainage for the high rainfall of the rainy season. As for climate, there is strong sunlight, with shade provided where needed by avocado and other large trees. Warm days and cool nights allow slow, even maturation of the fruit.

     In addition to utilizing these excellent natural conditions, the growers and producers of Juan Ana follow strict guidelines to ensure the best product: proper selection of coffee variety, use of natural fertilizers, cultivation of only mature fruits, immediate and excellent processing, and pride of the producers and consumers.

     The trees are of the Bourbon, Arabigo, Caturra, Pache, Catuaí, and Catimon varieties, all of the highest-quality Arabica type. With the ideal natural growing conditions, these trees need very little chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

     The mountain climate allows a late harvest. Long after the coastal (lesser quality) trees are cleared, coffee for Juan Ana reaches full maturity from late December to early February. Individuals and families often ascend to their mountainside fields well before dawn, avoiding the strong afternoon sun, to carefully and individually pick the superior, burgundy-red fruits. Baskets fill slowly but steadily, often requiring several days to fill a one-quintal bag.

     Men and boys carry full quintal bags on their backs from the field to the receiving office. The fruits of many hours of labor are exchanged for receipts, redeemed for full payment after the coffee’s post-production sale. The cooperative purchases coffee directly from the field at 200 quetzales per quintal. This is up to four times the price the growers can receive from the commercial purchasers. The growers themselves have set the price. Though the cooperative usually pays a much higher price than the typical coffee purchasers pay, yet the cost of the finished product, $5.00 or Q30.00, is far less than the cost of commercial "gourmet" coffee.

     The price is lower, but the quality of Juan Ana’s coffee is higher.

     Processing begins immediately upon reception of the quintales, all work done by the hands of skilled professionals. The outer skin and pulp of the fruit is removed. After fermenting, the seeds are fully washed in water from Lake Atitlán and raked under the sun until dry. The beans are again inspected before their parchment is removed and they are roasted sixty-five pounds at a time, turned by hand in a steel drum over a wood fire for an hour and a half until they reach perfection.

     Some finished coffee is left whole-bean and some is ground before sealed in plastic bags and packaged in locally screen-printed sacks. Each "pound" is actually seventeen ounces, not sixteen, showing the pride the producers of Juan Ana coffee take in the work of their fields and hands.

     The coffee is shipped to the Mission Office of the Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota using minimal packaging. Finally, it is purchased and consumed by individuals and organizations desiring the highest quality coffee.

     All involved in the process, from the families growing and harvesting on their humble fields to the skilled experts handling every step of the processing and packaging to the sellers of the finished product to the persons enjoying a full-bodied, freshly-brewed cup, all delight in the quality of this, the finest coffee that can be produced.