Our coffee adventure began around the year 1890 when a large group of immigrants arrived in Panama from multiple countries, a lot of them contracted by the French investors to start the first attempt of building the Panama Canal. One of them was named Abdeljad Suadi of Arab descent, who changed his name to an easier way to pronounce Domingo Suarez.

Domingo Suarez began the coffee family business. His youngest son, Vidal Suarez and his wife Eira Gutierrez continued on their own. One of their sons, Norberto Suarez, managed approximately 270 hectares of coffee farm and initiated the coffee exporting business in 1989.

Sharing the love for the coffee business passed on from prior generations and his commitment for hard work, Norberto managed an impressive operation producing over 10,000 quintals of green coffee.

In 2017, Norberto continued on his own to produce high quality coffee via continued innovation and quality control. Norberto collaborates with the Association Nacional de Beneficiados y Exportadores de Café the Panama (ANBEC). He has been a leader in topics such as precision agriculture applied to coffee, denomination of origin, carbon capture and The Route of Coffee.

In 2022 Veronica and family moved to Boquete to expand and take over the roasting business with the support of her brothers as the new generation, with the idea to expand roasting sales internationally and continue and continue with the family legacy.

Excited for the future journey, the new generation faces multiple challenges…how to modernize and innovate the production and roasting of the product while still maintaining the commitment to the local working community. How to run a profitable business that still assists their employees with education, increasing quality of life – especially for women – while competing with a high volume & low quality international market.

Panamanian Women focus – La Gloria Coffee strives to provide assistance and programs designed to empower young local women so they can understand their rights and life choices, help them access higher education and enter the labor market.