Colombia Huila Palestina Castillo A

Coffee cultivation from small family owned farms is the backbone of production in Colombia. Banexport, a Colombian export company, works directly with many of these small farms where producers have a shared commitment for exquisite coffee processing and loving care for their farms and the environment.

The model of collaborative effort produces traceable community blends with vibrant regional profiles.  This lot comes from  10 producers (Daniel Felipe Ruiz Diaz, Aldemar Betancur, Luis Alberto Hoyos Collazos, Sami Jair Solano Sierra, William Arley Cruz Bohorquez, Yina Alejandra Solano Sierra, Octavio Rueda Ramírez, Diego Fernando Valderrama, Alexander Vargas Osorio, and Sergio Zúñiga) with farms in communities within the municipality of Palestina in the department of Huila.

Each producer has their own micro-mill where they focus on selective picking, floating the cherries to remove damaged and underdeveloped beans, macerating the cherries for 24 hours, depulping to remove the skin, and fermenting 24 to 48 hours to remove the mucilage before washing the coffee seeds. The wet parchment is dried to 11 percent moisture over a period between 7 to 21 days on raised beds.

After processing, Banexport provides crucial logistical support for things like warehousing and milling coffee for export to the international market, which provides better income for everyone to reinvest in their farms and strengthen their families’ livelihoods.