Direct Trade Revolution: How Hacienda Iluminada Eliminates the Coffee Middleman
Hola! I hope everyone is having a beautiful day,
From the moment we started the farm in 2104, we believe in doing things with love and for love.
Love of nature, love for the island, love for our humans. For a big part of the coffee industry, that story is hidden, buried under layers of middlemen, inflated prices, and lost connections between the hardworking hands who grow the coffee and the caffeinated humans who drink it.
Here in Hacienda Iluminada, we believe your specialty Puerto Rican coffee should come with the full story intact. That’s why we’ve embraced the direct trade revolution. A model where there are no middlemen, no shortcuts, and no mystery. Just an authentic farm-to-cup experience where the Specialty coffee beans are grown on our own land, roasted with care, and sent straight to YOU.
We are all about honoring the hands that grow it, building trust with the beautiful humans who drink it, Making every sip a bridge between farm and cup.
Giving “The Finger” To The Middle Man
In the world of coffee, a complex chain often exists between the farm and your cup. Farmers sell to local buyers, who sell to exporters, who sell to roasters, who then sell to retailers. During this 4 step process farmer's profits get reduced, it inflates the final price for the caffeinated customer, and no clear transerancy where it’s difficult to trace the coffee's journey. It's an inefficient coffee supply chain that takes away the power from the coffee farmers
Hacienda Iluminada is flipping the script. By embracing a direct trade coffee model, we cut out the middleman entirely. We are the farmers, roasters, and sellers, all in one. This revolutionary approach comes from our commitment to specialty high quality, transparency, and a more sustainable coffee farming system that ensures a stable income for the long term. This is the essence of true farm-to-cup coffee.
Price Transparency for our Caffeinated Customers
Have you ever wondered about the price of specialty coffee? The traditional supply chain makes it difficult to see where your money goes. In our direct trade model, we offer complete price transparency. When you buy from us, you know that a significant portion of the cost goes directly to the dedicated team of Hacienda Iluminada. Who put their hearts on the land with every harvest.
By eliminating the multiple intermediaries of the traditional supply chain model, we ensure that a significantly larger portion of the revenue directly benefits the humans who pick your delicious, specialty Puerto Rican coffee beans. One coffee cherry at a time. You get world class specialty coffee at a fair price without the hidden markups of a long supply chain, and you can feel good knowing you are supporting ethical business practices that directly benefit the community that work to server YOU.
Fair Pay and Empowerment for our Farmers
The most significant impact of direct trade is on the farmers themselves. By selling directly to consumers, we ensure that our team receive fair compensation for their time and dedication.
Let us give you perspective. The unemployment rate in Maricao, Puerto Rico, was 27.3% as of June 2025. This rate is significantly higher than the overall unemployment rate for Puerto Rico, which was 5.7%. This means the majority of unemployment is concentrated in one region of the island.
Maricao’s primary industry is agriculture, but after Hurricane Maria destroyed an estimated 80% of our island's coffee trees, many coffee farms in the surrounding areas took a massive financial loss, and have not recovered since. Not only that, the cost of production has increased due to factors like the U.S. federal minimum wage. Simultaneously, there's a significant labor shortage, with many younger people seeking work elsewhere, leaving coffee fruit to rot on the trees.
Being able to have control of the farming and distribution has helped pay our team a wage above the local average, provide access to healthcare, and invest in better housing and education for their families. Unlike some traditional Fair Trade certifications, which can come with high fees and complex rules, direct trade allows us to build a direct and trust-based relationship.
This coffee farmer empowerment gives us the resources to invest in sustainable coffee practices and focus on producing the highest quality specialty coffee beans possible.
The Traceability Advantage
In a time where so much of what we eat and drink is mass-produced and anonymous, knowing the story behind your coffee is a rare privilege. More and more, people want to know exactly where their food and drinks come from.
Our farm-to-cup model means your coffee’s journey can be traced back to one place: right here at Hacienda Iluminada. You’ll know the very soil it grew in, the hands that picked it, and the care that went into every step before it reached your cup.
This level of traceability is important for us so you can feel the connection and pride we have for our beautiful Isla (island). It’s about trusting that what you’re drinking is authentic, ethical, and real. When you know the true origin of your specialty coffee, every sip carries more meaning, and your appreciation deepens with every sip.
If you want to learn more about our sustainable coffee practices. Book a tour today! link below.
Buy Direct from the Farm! Support Direct Trade Coffee!
Ready to experience the difference? Join the direct trade revolution and taste the difference that fairness and quality make. Shop our freshly roasted specialty coffee today by clicking the link below. By choosing Hacienda Iluminada, you're supporting a more ethical, transparent, and delicious way of doing business.
If it’s GOOD for earth, it is GOOD FOR YOU!
Unmatched Quality Control from Farm to Cup
Quality is non-negotiable for us. Our direct trade model gives us complete control over every step of the process. From planting the coffee trees in our rich volcanic soil to the meticulous hand-picked coffee beans at the peak of ripeness, we oversee it all.
We have Angel, our farm administrator, making it all happen, directing the team so every step is carried out with precision, like a conductor guiding an orchestra through a perfect performance. He oversees the careful planting of young coffee trees, the nurturing of their roots in rich volcanic soil, and the watchful monitoring of shade, and pests throughout the growing season.
When harvest comes, he delegates the team in hand-picking only the ripest coffee cherries, ensuring each one is perfection. From there, he supervises the careful pulping, slow drying under the our Puerto Rican sun, and the final sorting to remove any defects.
This hands-on approach guarantees that every coffee bean meets our rigorous standards, resulting in a specialty-grade coffee that is consistently exceptional.
Building Direct Relationships with our Caffeinated Humans
If you saw the link above, we want YOU to be part of our caffeinated community. By connecting with you directly, we get to share our story, our passion, and the unique flavors of our coffee. We are inviting you to explore the journey of a far away land. get entranced by the sounds of exotic birds flying around the farm, and be part of our family.
we believe in story living, and let Hacienda Iluminada be a chapter in YOUr book. It is one thing to taste our cappuccinos from our coffee shops at 787 coffee. it’s another to pick your own coffee fruit and suck the juices fresh out the vine. Take a chance and be spontaneous! Come visit Hacienda Iluminada today.
787 Coffee: Bringing the Heartbeat of Puerto Rico to the World
From our hands on Hacienda Iluminada to your cup, 787 Coffee is on a mission to redefine what it means to drink Puerto Rican coffee.
We grow every single bean ourselves.
We practice real sustainable farming—no greenwashing, just love for the land.
Every sip you take supports local farmers, protects our forests, and keeps our coffee legacy alive for the next generation.
Ready for the trip of a lifetime? Come to Maricao. Walk the fields. Smell the fresh-roasted beans. Feel the heartbeat of Puerto Rico in every single cup.
👉 Ready to taste the tradition? Book your unforgettable Hacienda Iluminada coffee tour today at HaciendaIluminada.com!