Meet Wilford Snr. & Wilford Jnr. Lamastus

We had the pleasure of meeting Wilford Lamastus Snr. & Jnr. earlier this year to discuss the history of coffee in Panama, challenges coffee growers face, and the future of Best of Panama (BoP).

Wilford Snr. & Wilford Jnr. are Panamanian coffee producers and the owners of the Lamastus Family Estates. The Lamastus family has been growing coffee in the Boquete region of Panama for over 100 years. At the turn of the twentieth century, Kentucky-born Robert Lamastus arrived in Panama as part of the team that built the famed Panama Canal. In 1918, he established a coffee farm in the northern region of Boquete, on the edge of Volcan Baru National Park. Over a hundred years later, the family farms are now overseen by Robert’s grandson and great-grandson, Wilford and Wilford Jr. 

In 2018, their Elida Estate made BoP history by winning in both the washed and natural Geisha categories, breaking the coffee quality competition’s record for its highest-scoring coffee. In 2024, they won the BoP Geisha Natural category and broke both the BoP auction record and, additionally, the world record, for the most paid for a single lot of coffee at auction.

Watch this episode at www.youtube.com/@THREEcoffee