About
Ladera Coffee Imports is a specialty green coffee importer connecting Mexican producers directly to US roasters. We're based in New York, with an operating partner on the ground in Mexico who maintains the relationships that make this work.
How this started
I'm Alberto Reyes. I grew up between New York and Mexico, studied at the School of Visual Arts, and spent years in creative work before coffee pulled me in a different direction. What started as a deep appreciation for the cup turned into a question I couldn't shake: why is Mexican specialty coffee almost invisible on US menus?
Mexico is the world's eighth-largest coffee producer. The state of Puebla alone accounts for roughly a fifth of the country's output. But walk into any specialty roaster in the US and you'll struggle to find a single Mexican lot on the board. The coffee is there. The quality is there. The bridge wasn't.
So, we’re building one.
How this started
My operating partner Elber is stationed in Mexico, where he manages the end of the chain that matters most — the producer relationships. He drives the collection circuits through the sierra, visits farms during harvest, oversees quality control at our consolidation point, and makes sure every bag that crosses the border reflects the work that went into growing it.
We're not brokers. We know the producers by name. We've been to the fincas. We've sat at the table while the cherry was being sorted.
What we do differently
Every lot we bring in enters the US under the USMCA trade agreement at zero tariff — not a temporary exemption, but a treaty-level guarantee. For roasters watching the tariff landscape shift under their feet, that matters.
We publish pricing at every stage of the chain because we believe transparency isn't a marketing angle — it's how this industry gets better. When you see what a producer was paid, you can make informed decisions about the coffee you buy and the relationships you support.
The name
Ladera means hillside — where coffee grows best in Mexico, on the slopes of the Sierra Norte, Sierra Negra, and Sierra Madre Oriental. It felt right.
Green coffee for people who care where it came from.
We're a small operation and we like it that way. If you're a roaster interested
in what we're bringing in, have questions about a specific lot, or just want to talk Mexican coffee — reach out. We'll get back to you ourselves, not a sales team.