Zaruma is the first city that Shane visited in Ecuador on the Mercer On Mission trip in 2016. It was here that he first met Arturo Peñarreta who, at the time, was a government employee in agriculture acting as the Mercer group's tour guide. A friendship began between the two, and they kept in touch once Shane returned to the States. Arturo is the man who would eventually convince Shane to start a coffee company importing Ecuadorian coffee only.

Arturo is now a full-time Z Beans employee working to establish connections with new farmers everyday. He also runs the Z Beans Chocolate Factory in Zaruma to process the chocolate that is then made into our Ecuadorian Chocolate Sauce in Macon.

Arturo and his family's home in Zaruma is a place the Z Beans team often still stays on visits to Ecuador. The city acts as Z Beans' "home base"—the place we will always return to in years to come.