Paso Paso
Sources: Paso Paso (website)
Paso Paso is a specialty roaster based in Hannover, Germany, founded in 2024 (first birthday celebrated at Nordic Coffee Fest, February 2025). Legal name: Istmo Producers Collective GmbH, registered at the court of Hannover. Physical address: Lagerstraße 1, Hannover.
Founder and managing director: Bram de Hoog (Dutch), former sourcing manager at green coffee importer Ally Coffee, where he managed hundreds of producer relationships across Central America, Ethiopia, and beyond. Bram holds 20% equity; he also personally roasts all coffees on the roastery’s Giesen roaster.
SCA Best Branding award, World of Coffee Copenhagen 2024 — brand design by Jasper van Gils / Groowup (Breda), who holds a small equity share under the branding category.
The Farmer-Owned Model
Paso Paso’s defining feature is its farmer-owned roastery structure. Five coffee farmers hold equity shares in the company that roasts and sells their beans. This means farmers profit twice:
- First upon green coffee export — the roastery buys green coffee from each farmer at agreed prices. For the 2024 harvest the weighted average price paid was $4.50/lb (well above C-market and local alternatives).
- Second via dividends — as shareholders, farmers receive a portion of roastery profits after reinvestment and taxes.
Governance: Monthly shareholder meetings. Statutes lay out division of power and decision-making. The roastery is explicitly prohibited from subsidising farms or vice versa — all transactions must make economic sense for both sides.
Sourcing obligation: The statutes commit Paso Paso to purchasing green coffee exclusively from its farmer-shareholders for as long as the company exists. This is not a supplier preference — it is a legal obligation embedded in the corporate charter.
Ownership Structure
| Stakeholder | Category | Approximate share |
|---|---|---|
| Bram de Hoog (founder/MD) | Operations | 20% |
| Thomas Brinkmann (former roastery owner) | Operations | Small |
| Jasper van Gils / Groowup | Branding | Small |
| Five farmer-shareholders | Farms | Majority |
Thomas Brinkmann ran a coffee school and roastery at the same Hannover address for 20+ years before selling to Paso Paso. He is a former German roasting champion and remains a neighbour in the same building. Bram met him at Cup of Excellence in Nicaragua in 2018.
The Five Farmer-Shareholders
| Farmer | Farm | Country | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diego Baraona | Finca Los Pirineos | El Salvador | Usulutan (Tecapa volcano), 1,450 masl |
| Diego Robelo | Aquiares Estate | Costa Rica | — |
| Silvio Sánchez | Unnamed | Nicaragua | Nueva Segovia |
| Hester & Dawit Syoum | Bette Buna | Ethiopia | Sidama (Tefari Kela) + Guji Meguda (220 ha coffee forest) |
| Jorge Vásquez | Finca Cedral Alto | Costa Rica | Aserrí, Central Valley |
Bram assembled this group from years of direct relationships as a green coffee buyer. Farmers invested cash to receive shares; the investment funded the acquisition of the Hannover roastery.
El Salvador — Diego Baraona and Los Pirineos
Diego Baraona is a co-owner of Paso Paso. His farm, Finca Los Pirineos, is in Chinameca, Usulutan, at 1,450 masl on the Tecapa volcano. Diego is the fifth generation of the Baraona family on this farm, having taken over in 2020 after the unexpected death of his father, the legendary producer Gilberto Baraona.
Bram de Hoog first visited Gilberto at Los Pirineos in December 2018 and had been working with the farm since then. He describes Los Pirineos as “perhaps the most photographed farm in the world of coffee.” When Diego took over during COVID-19 with no prior coffee experience, Bram extended the same trust Gilberto had placed in him. Diego surpassed expectations and today the farm is described as “shining brighter than ever.”
Key facts about Los Pirineos under Diego:
- Dozens of exotic varieties in full production; 80+ types in observation
- Up to 20 different processing methods mapped and applied
- Homegrown Pacamara seeds developed on the farm, now distributed worldwide as certified seeds under Diego’s supervision
- Baraona family holds the title “King of Pacamara” — considered to produce the truest Pacamara flavour
Current El Salvador Products (2025 Harvest)
Both products were listed as sold out at time of crawl (May 2026). Harvest date: February 2025.
Bourbon Elite Washed
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Usulatan, El Salvador |
| Farm | Los Pirineos |
| Altitude | 1,450 masl |
| Variety | Bourbon Elite |
| Process | Washed (demucilager) |
| Tasting notes | Toffee sweetness, buttery body, light apple acidity |
| Roast level | Light-medium (2/5) |
| Retail price | €47.04/kg (€11.76/250g) |
The Bourbon Elite variety was planted over 100 years ago by Diego Baraona’s forefathers. It is described as a direct mutation of Typica. Processing uses a demucilager (centrifugal mucilage removal, not fermentation), then raised-bed drying for 10–14 days, then three months rest in hermetically sealed bags.
Pacamara Anaerobic Natural
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Usulatan, El Salvador |
| Farm | Los Pirineos |
| Altitude | 1,450 masl |
| Variety | Pacamara |
| Process | Anaerobic Natural |
| Tasting notes | Red wine, nutmeg, blackberry |
| Roast level | Light (1/5) |
| Retail price | €60.52/kg (€15.13/250g) |
The Pacamara variety originated in El Salvador as a cross of Pacas and Maragogype, developed by the Salvadoran Institute of Coffee Research. The Baraona family provided land for trials; work was interrupted by civil unrest in the 1980s but the family preserved and perfected the seeds. Diego Baraona uses climate-controlled fermentation rooms to optimise anaerobic natural processing.
Corazón Oscuro (Espresso Blend)
A dark-roast espresso blend of Diego Robelo (Costa Rica, Aquiares) and Diego Baraona (El Salvador, Los Pirineos) — branded as “the Two Diegos.” Used by local Hannover café partners Vorveg and 171 Kaffeeladen for milk-based drinks.
Product Range and Pricing Architecture
Paso Paso operates a three-tier menu planned annually:
| Tier | SCA score range | Volume | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signature | 84–86 pts | High | Year-round, accessible, café-friendly pricing |
| Seasonal | 85–87 pts | Medium | Rotating quarterly, process/variety diversity |
| Wonder Series | 90+ pts | Very limited | Unique profiles, premium pricing |
First full menu (July 2024 – July 2025): 8,500 kg of unroasted coffee across 34 lots. The signature tier is designed for cafés to use in espresso grinders at a price point customers can sustain monthly. The Wonder Series reflects rare micro-lots cupped above 90 points.
Retail price benchmarks (B2C, EUR per kg, adds to ES market data):
| Product | Price/kg |
|---|---|
| Bourbon Elite Washed (ES) | €47 |
| Pacamara Anaerobic Natural (ES) | €61 |
| Espresso bundles | €33–40 |
Subscription option available: 10% discount on monthly/bi-weekly delivery. Free EU shipping over €50.
Trade Events and Distribution
- World of Coffee Geneva 2025 — first exhibition, Roaster Village
- Nordic Coffee Fest Gothenburg 2025 — second year, celebrated first birthday
- Frankfurt Coffee Festival 2025 — Bram competed in Brewers Cup (15th/24, using Diego Robelo Centroamericano Anaerobic Natural)
- Berlin Coffee Festival 2025
- Sweet Spot Munich 2025 — featured alongside Tim Wendelboe, Coffee Collective, La Cabra
Wholesale: Programme exists at paso-paso.com/pages/wholesale. Direct contact form; no public price list. Focused on cafés and restaurants. Requires registration for wholesale pricing portal.
DTC: Shopify store, EUR-denominated, ships daily across EU.
Strategic Assessment for Kaiserblick
Paso Paso is NOT a buyer target
The corporate statutes of Paso Paso require exclusive purchase from its farmer-shareholders. Diego Baraona (Los Pirineos) is one of those shareholders. Paso Paso cannot — and will not — purchase El Salvador coffee from Kaiserblick or any other producer. This is a structural legal obligation, not a preference or a relationship to navigate.
The task file for this research noted a “competing relationship” between Paso Paso and Los Pirineos / Baraona. This finding confirms it is far more binding than a typical buyer-supplier relationship: Diego is a co-owner of Paso Paso. Remove Paso Paso from outreach planning.
Paso Paso as a competitor
At World of Coffee Brussels 2026, Paso Paso is a likely exhibitor (they attended Geneva 2025). They are:
- Active in Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, and Nordic markets — the same European specialty café audience Kaiserblick targets
- Offering El Salvador single-origins (Los Pirineos Bourbon Elite and Pacamara) to the same buyers Kaiserblick will approach
- Represented at the same festivals and trade events
Awareness note: Roasters who already buy Los Pirineos via Paso Paso will have a pre-existing ES reference point. Kaiserblick’s pitch should differentiate by region (Apaneca-Ilamatepec vs. Usulutan), variety range, and the Kaiserblick value chain story.
Retail price benchmark
Paso Paso’s ES pricing adds two data points for the ES specialty market in Germany:
- Accessible signature tier: ~€47/kg (Bourbon Elite Washed)
- Premium seasonal tier: ~€61/kg (Pacamara Anaerobic Natural)
These are comparable to the price ranges seen at Bonanza Coffee Roasters, 19grams Coffee Roasters, and Fjord Coffee Roasters, and below the ultra-premium end seen at Tim Wendelboe (~$200/kg retail for Los Pirineos Pacamara).
No certification requirements visible
No EU organic (BIO) certification requirement is evident on the Paso Paso website — unlike Coffee Pirates Vienna, which requires organic for its entire catalogue. Paso Paso’s model is direct-from-farm via shareholder structure, with no intermediary certifier dependency. This is noted for completeness but is not actionable since they are not a buyer target.
Contact
- Website: paso-paso.com
- Email: bram@paso-paso.com
- Phone: 017631345355
- Wholesale: paso-paso.com/pages/wholesale