Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005
Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/686001
25 www.baristamagazine.com F O A M LEONOR GAVIÑA-VALLS HONORED WITH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AT SCAA WHILE CUBAN COFFEE is on the verge of enjoying a renaissance in the United States with the recently lifted trade embargo, there's one woman stateside who is perhaps more expert on the subject than anyone else, and that's Leonor Gaviña-Valls of Southern California's Gaviña Coffee. The richness of her personal and familial history in Cuban coffee, however, are hardly the only reasons Leonor was selected as the Specialty Coffee Association of America's (SCAA) 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. A founding member and past president of the SCAA, Leonor's volunteer work for the sake of the specialty-coffee industry stretches from completing the Women in Coffee Leadership Program, serving as a founding board member of the Pacific Coast Coffee Association, and being an active director on the International Women's Coffee Alliance board. Still, Leonor devotes her life to her family and its legacy, which is Gaviña Coffee. Under the leadership of Leonor and her three brothers, the company has seamlessly transitioned and adapted through the constantly changing specialty industry. "I think we as a family, as well as me personally, have a very forward-looking view of business and of life—we realize that in order to stay relevant, we have to change with the times," Leonor says, noting that Gaviña Coffee is run not only by Leonor and her brothers, but also eight from the next generation. "This new input of talent, plus our entrepreneurial perspective, is what keeps us relevant." Leonor's grandfather and great uncle, José María and Ramón Gaviña, respectively, literally planted the seeds for what would become Gaviña Gourmet Coffee back in 1870, when they immigrated to Cuba from the Basque region of Spain. Leonor's father, Francisco, was born on the family coffee estate, Hacienda Buenos Aires, where he grew up working alongside his father learning the family business. He passed down what he knew to his own offspring, Paco, Pedro, José, and youngest child, Leonor, as they, like their father, grew up in the fields of their family coffee farm. "We learned from my father and uncles how to grow and process the best coffee around," recalls Leonor of her childhood in Cuba. "When we came to the United States, my father's dream was always to get back into the coffee business." Gaviña Coffee's roasting company was founded in Los Angeles in 1967, when Leonor was in high school. "It has been a lot of good times as well as challenges, not only as a family business, but in the industry," says Leonor, whose official title with the company is VP of marketing, as she reflects on the changes she's seen in the industry over the years. "I hope that we continue growing as a family business, that each and every one of the family as well as our extended company family is able to follow their dreams and accomplish whatever goals they have set for themselves. The sky is the only limit!"