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Three Questions with Lina Granados of Racafé in Bogotá

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Lina Granados. Courtesy photo.

When Lina Granados sat down to talk with DCN, she had recently returned home to Armenia, Colombia, from Trieste, Italy, where she was completing the residential requirement for her master’s degree with the Ernesto Illy Foundation

She was also preparing to move to Bogotá in one week to begin her new role as a commercial executive at green coffee company Racafé

Lina did not arrive here by chance. She first decided she wanted to work in coffee at the age of seven. Growing up on a farm in the hills of Armenia, she felt the important role it played in the family life. Her father would always tell her that coffee could make their dreams come true. 

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Courtesy photo.

Lina was 17 when she launched her professional coffee career, working at the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) office while also working towards her business degree through Alexander vohn Humboldt, the biological research institute that prizes hands-on field experience. 

“It was amazing for me because I learned about different types of growers beyond my family. I learned about how they manage their farms, about their water and electricity supply, and everything that they need for production,” Lina told DCN. “I fell in love with coffee even more.”

Equipped with fresh knowledge and her passion for coffee, Lina returned home to run the coffee production of her family’s farm, which also includes livestock and plantains. Lina also found key mentors at the farm, since both her parents had backgrounds in economics. 

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Lina Granados with her mother, Constanza Uribe.

“My mom was one of the first women in the region to study at a university, and she became a manager of a bank. When I was at school, she was one of two working moms. When she traveled for work, she would come back and explain everything she saw. I think that influenced me a lot,” said Lina. “She became independent. She had a voice and followed her dreams.”

Lina credits her mother, Constanza Uribe, with building her leadership skills at a young age. When Lina learned of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance, she spearheaded starting a Colombian chapter, much in the same way her mom led an effort to get women elected to the board of their local coffee growers cooperative. 

Lina is keenly aware of the generational progress in her family, recalling how her grandma worked in the home after completing her own education. Said Lina, “I am here now following the progress of my family.”

Lina said that, as a young woman in coffee, she was not always taken seriously. However, she has also perceived a slight cultural shift in recent years. 

“Five years ago, it was more difficult. I think women have made a space for themselves with their knowledge and their different visions,” she said. “This is opening doors because we are good coffee professionals.”

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Courtesy photo

Through her master’s program with Illy and her work with IWCA, Lina has been able to connect with people throughout Colombia and now the globe. 

“When you connect with others, you find points in common even when you have different words. I am curious about humans because I think everyone can teach me something. These experiences with others have helped me develop empathy,” she shared. “I think that is the big change we need in business: We need to run our businesses with empathy.”

Here’s more from DCN’s conversation with Lina Granados…

What about coffee excites you most?

For me, coffee is a world of flavors, and that excites me the most. Within a few meters, you can have different flavors and a different experience. Coffee is a trip of sensations with all the things you can feel through a coffee cup. It can move you and transform you. 

What about coffee troubles you most?

My biggest worry in coffee is about how we can dignify the producer. Coffee producers are the same humans as you, and they have the same importance as you. I come from a coffee producing family, so I know all the struggles that producers have, and I want to dignify the labor of the coffee producer. 

What would you be doing if it weren’t for coffee?

I would still work in agriculture. What I love most about agriculture business is that I can be sitting in the office, and in two hours, I can be in the fields working. 


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