Café Zamora

Café Zamora, also known as Zamora Coffee, is a family-owned coffee enterprise based in Portland, Oregon, founded by Héctor Mejía Zamora. The company is defined by its vertical integration, functioning as a direct-trade model where coffee is grown on the Mejía Zamora family farm in Santa Rosa, Guatemala, and subsequently imported and roasted in Portland. This structure was established to fulfill the founder's long-term goal of connecting his family's agricultural heritage directly to the final consumer, bypassing traditional supply chain intermediaries.

Héctor Mejía Zamora’s journey to establishing the business involved significant personal transition, moving from his origins as a young entrepreneur in Guatemala to navigating the coffee industry in the United States. After overcoming language and educational barriers, he utilized his background in coffee cultivation to launch the café and roasting operation on May 15, 2019. The business model is explicitly designed to support fellow small-scale farmers in his home village, with a portion of sales directed toward community support in the region where the coffee is grown.

The company’s roasting operations are centralized in Portland, where they process their Guatemalan-grown beans on a weekly basis. This schedule allows the business to maintain a fresh-to-order model for both their retail café customers and their wholesale partners. The café itself is noted for its community-focused atmosphere, often described as having a residential, living-room-style environment that serves as a hub for local residents and coffee enthusiasts.

In practice, the sourcing philosophy centers on the elimination of the coffee middleman. By maintaining ownership of the supply chain from the farm level through to the final roast, the company aims to provide a more stable pricing structure for the producers. This direct-trade approach is a core component of their brand identity, which they market to wholesale clients—including local restaurants and retailers—as a transparent, farmer-owned alternative to conventional coffee procurement.

The company has navigated various operational challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced a temporary closure of their physical storefront in 2020. Despite these disruptions, the business has expanded its reach through a subscription-based 'Roast Club' and a wholesale program that supplies various Portland-area businesses. Their product line focuses primarily on single-origin Guatemalan coffee, offered in both medium and dark roast profiles.

Beyond the commercial aspects of roasting and retail, Café Zamora is frequently highlighted for its social mission. The founder’s narrative, which emphasizes the transition from rural farming to urban business ownership, is a central element of the company's public profile. The business continues to operate as a small-scale, family-run entity, maintaining its commitment to sourcing exclusively from the family's Guatemalan origins while serving as a documented example of a direct-trade, farm-to-cup operation in the Pacific Northwest.