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Two years after RodeoHouston shut down, vendors are happy to see crowds

One of those vendors is Primos Coffee, a local direct-trade coffee company that roasts its Nicaraguan-grown beans in Cove, Texas.

HOUSTON — On March 11, 2020, local leaders made the call to shut down RodeoHouston, just a few days into its run. It was a devastating blow for families who planned on visiting, for the kids who raised the livestock and for the vendors who counted on Rodeo for a big chunk of their income.

Now two years later, some vendors say things are better than ever.

"It’s great to be back and the crowds are huge. It’s wonderful. We’re so happy to be a part of it again," says Betty Ann Blandon.

She's serving up a cup of joe at the Primos Coffee Co. booth.

"We need a lot more people to know about Primos and that’s why we’re here at the Rodeo," Blandon laughs.

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The local company sells direct-trade coffee.

"The model that gets the most back to the farmer and to our team is direct trade," explains Blandon. "We can describe the whole process and walk you through it."

Video on the Primos Coffee Co. Instagram page shows Blandon at her family's property in Nicaragua, which is where the coffee is grown.

"It comes directly from our farm. We go through the entire process of growing the coffee to harvesting it by hand, processing it and then importing it here into Houston," Blandon says.

Then the beans are roasted in Cove, just east of Baytown.

RELATED: After two years with no Houston Rodeo, vendors are more than ready to get back to their booths

"Our coffee is very mild, low acidity," says Blandon. "I call it an easy-drinking coffee."

It may be easy to drink, but she adds it takes a lot of work to turn a coffee cherry into what Blandon calls "that magical brown elixir."

"It’s a quite labor-intensive process," she says.

If you want to give Primos a try, you can swing by the booth in NRG Center. There are also many other vendors who are counting on sales to give them a boost after a couple of rough years.

Brandi Smith on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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