by By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun
SMALL BUSINESS FEATURE: Entrepreneur brings coffee from her home country to Vancouver

VANCOUVER - Ten years ago, after her husband spent a harrowing three days as a kidnap victim in the jungles of Colombia, Martha Lucia Bowen decided it was time for the big move.

So she and husband Frank Rodriguez contacted the embassies of several countries, before deciding on immigrating to Canada - a country they concluded was a peaceful nation where they could have a fresh start and raise their children in a safe environment.

Today, the 44-year-old mother of three owns and operates Latin Organics, a fair trade, organic coffee company that sells specialty coffee beans in several Vancouver area stores, including Whole Foods, Capers Community Markets, Urban Fare, London Drugs and Bosa Foods.

She buys coffee directly from the Arhuaco Indians - indigenous farmers in her former Colombian hometown of Valledupar - and imports and sells hand-woven placemats and baskets made by Columbia's Kankuamo Indians at Red Horses Gallery in West Vancouver.

"They [kidnappers] took us into the jungle," Bowen said about the day that she, Rodriguez and their young daughter were taken off a bus by guerrillas, who quickly allowed her and their daughter to go free but held Rodriguez for a $400,000 ransom.

"But he was rescued [by a military convoy] along with five other kidnap victims. [The experience] made me decide to leave. We wanted to have a normal life."

Bowen said another factor in their decision to leave Columbia was a random robbery at Rodriguez's restaurant by 12 uniformed men that resulted in one person being killed.

Bowen said that after arriving in Canada in 1998, she took a job with Capers for four years. "That's where I was exposed to the business world of organics. I got more and more interested and thought there must be organic coffee in Columbia. So I got a list [of organic growers] and found one group in my hometown. And that's when I decided what I wanted to do."

Bowen said she wanted to sell only certified organic and certified fair trade coffee.

She also feels that by paying the farmers good wages, she can help prove to other Colombians that organic agriculture is a way out of poverty and an alternative to the illicit drug industry.
"I wanted to work with my hometown and continue the work of my grandfather, who traded with the Arhuaco Indians," said Bowen, who now lives in Horseshoe Bay. "I wanted to keep that connection."
Bowen said she received a loan through the federal Business Development Bank of Canada after presenting them with a business plan. "We started selling in 2005 when I resigned from Capers to concentrate on my company full time."

Since then, she said, business has been steadily growing, with sales of about $48,000 in 2006 and about $75,000 in 2008.
Bowen said they have more than doubled the amount of coffee they sold - 5,000 pounds in 2006 and about 11,500 in 2007 - but that profits didn't rise accordingly because prices of organic beans have fallen. "It's becoming more accessible to consumers."
She said that while demand is growing, it hasn't been easy.
"Cash flow is challenging. And you have to wear so many hats. I gave birth to [my daughter] just as I was putting into the marketplace my first coffee beans. That was a huge challenge. I was walking through the streets of Vancouver trying to open business accounts, with a big belly."
Bowen said she and Rodriguez do almost everything themselves, except building a website -www.latinorganics.com - and roasting the beans.

She said her husband, an entrepreneur himself, was hugely supportive.
Bowen said Rodriguez, who sells vehicles for Vancouver businessman Jim Pattison, gave some of the beans to Pattison, who liked them so much that the Pattison Group's Urban Fare in Yaletown and Coal Harbour began selling them.
"If you buy a Lexus, you get a bag of our coffee," she added.
Bowen said that by trading directly with the Arhuaco farmers, Latin Organics not only cuts out the middle man - the coffee brokers - but allows her to pay the farmers more for their coffee beans.

However, she noted, there have been problems, such as when the farmers literally missed the boat twice in Colombia and an earthquake in Peru caused other delays. The cargo ship used to transport the beans was also delayed when both U.S. and Canada Customs officials conducted intensive searches of the cargo container, she added.

But Bowen feels the benefits far outweigh the growing pains.
"It's a product with meaning and we're trying to make a difference. And demand is growing. I was open to whatever would happen [and] I'm surprised by the support from consumers. There's a market for direct [to farmer], organic, fair trade coffee. They [consumers] really want to support that and that empowers me to keep growing."
She said moving to Canada has been a huge blessing for her and her family.
"We're very proud Canadian citizens. We believe it [citizenship] is a privilege and we don't take it for granted. We honour it through our hard work."
And the future?
"We're going to open up a new facility [in Vancouver] with a small cafe and roaster in the spring," she said. "It will be called Latin Organics Cafe Tienda and Roastery. "It will be the first of many."
» Article in Vancouver Sun "The Colombian connection"